Trouble At Sea
by HollytheKitty
Summary: With Maleficent and Chernabog locked up, the OTs would be gone... right? A rebellion has started at Disney, and it's not going to be pretty. Set on the Disney Cruise Line, cannon with first three books. Read & Review! Please? Story's now complete! Sequel "The Complex" posted!
1. With Poems Comes Plans

Trouble at Sea

Part One: The Adventure Begins

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**Chapter 1: With Poems Comes Plans**

Wayne jerked awake, startled by his dream. He looked around the room.

_It was only a dream._

He was still in his apartment above the firehouse, safe from all the dangers of the world. Relief flooded over him as he got out of his bed and looked through the window. He could see Finn and Charlene running towards the castle. He checked his Mickey Mouse watch: 12:34 A.M.

The Keepers were probably heading back to get the black fob. Wayne sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to help them soon. If his dream was correct, he was on the wrong side of the United States of America. But the West Coast wasn't the only thing mentioned in his dream. There was a message, one he needed to give to the DHIs. He sat down at his desk and got out some paper and a pen. He wrote down the poem, not fully conscious of what he was doing. When he was finished, he read it in surprise. He didn't know what language it was written in, but it certainly wasn't English. He wanted to investigate and find out what it meant. But he knew he didn't have time for that. He folded the paper into thirds, got up and walked outside. He needed to talk to Finn.

"So, what are we doing?" Maybeck asked.

"We're sitting," Finn said, although he knew what Maybeck really meant. He didn't want to admit that he didn't know—didn't know what the plan was, didn't know why Wayne wanted to talk to them. He was supposed to be the leader, and as the leader his friends expected him to know what he was doing.

"Hello," Wayne said, walking into the room. He sat down on a chair across from the couches the others were sitting on. They were in Walt Disney's apartment over the Cinderella Castle. It was a perfect hideout from the Overtakers, the evil Disney villains who were trying to take over the parks. It had a table and chairs for the seven of them, not to mention a breathtaking view of Main Street.

"I know it's a little crowded in here," He said looking at Charlene and Amanda sitting on the floor. "I know you want to get some sleep, and I truly am sorry." He shifted in his chair and pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. "However, I'm afraid your adventures aren't over yet." The teens nodded. None of them were really surprised to here this. "Tonight I got a message—a poem of some sort. I know it's important somehow, and I want you to figure out whatever it means." He handed the paper to Finn. "Don't read it yet," Wayne said when he saw Finn unfolding it.

"Okay," Finn said, setting the paper on the coffee table in front of him. "Can you help us with this? What are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know," Wayne admitted sorrowfully. "I just know it's important. And to answer your other question, no, I'm afraid I cannot help you with this one. I will be leaving shortly on a… business trip of sorts." He got up and headed to button that led out of the castle.

"Where are you going?" Charlene asked before Wayne could push the button. Wayne looked at each of theirs faces, observing their expressions of curiosity and confusion. He couldn't tell them everything. Not yet. However, he didn't think it would hurt to tell them at least a little bit about his location.

"California," Wayne told them. Then he pushed the button. A hole opened in the floor, and Wayne fell through. Seconds later the hole was filled, and the apartment looked just like had before, as if nothing unusual had happened.

"Should we look at the paper?" Amanda asked, yawning.

"No." Finn shook his head. They were too tired. He put the paper down on the table before him. "Tomorrow."

"Hello?" The pirate asked to the darkness.

"I'm over here," The girl whispered. In the dim moonlight, she appeared to be a young, harmless girl. The pirate knew better, though. Even though they were currently working together, she would stab him in the back without hesitation. "We need a plan," The girl said. "Did you trick that old guy Wayne into going to California?" She asked.

"Yes." The pirate nodded sharply. "How clever of you to send a fake message to the Keepers!" He exclaimed.

"What message?" The girl asked confused.

"You didn't send them a message?" The pirate asked, confused. The girl shook her head. "Oh…" The pirate said. "I saw him writing something down, but it probably wasn't anything important. A grocery list, perhaps." But the pirate pursed his lips, still worried. "Are you sure we shouldn't wait for Maleficent?" He asked.

"No!" The girl responded fiercely. "She had her turn. She tried three times—and failed repeatedly. If she gets locked up, that's not my fault. I'll bring down the Kingdom Keepers myself!"

"What are you going to do?" The pirate asked curiously. The girl rolled her eyes.

"You really think I'm going to tell you? Just do what I ask you to do."

"Like what?" The pirate asked.

"Well, first off, that blonde girl over there—" She pointed to Charlene running across Main Street. "Charlene Turner. What's her story? I know her name, her personality, but nothing else. But I can tell she's hiding something. Something big. Find out what it is, and you'll become my second in command." She told the pirate.

"Really?" The pirate asked.

"Yes. When I get hold of this park, I'll give you Adventureland." The girl told him, wondering if it was wise to fulfill this promise.

The pirate smiled. "I won't fail you!"

"Whatever," The girl responded, sounding uninterested. "Just come back to me with results by tomorrow. If this plan goes correctly, the other Keepers will never trust her again." She laughed manically. "And soon, Disney World will be ours!"

Amanda looked at Mrs. Nash in utter disbelief. "What do you mean I'm going to Maryland?" Mrs. Nash sighed. She had hoped the girls would've taken this better. Amanda and Jess stood in the kitchen with her, each with an expression of annoyance and confusion.

"I told you, you two have been accepted at a boarding school in Maryland," She explained for the second time.

"Don't boarding schools cost a lot?" Jess asked.

"Normally, yes, but they have many scholarships available for students in certain situations." She said.

"And by 'certain situations' you mean because our parents are dead." Amanda replied.

"Well, in this case, yes—" Mrs. Nash started.

"What if I don't want to go?" Amanda asked, cutting her off.

"I'm sorry dear," Mrs. Nash said even though she clearly couldn't care less. "But you don't have a choice. Pack your bags, and tell your friends goodbye. You're leaving on Friday." Amanda opened her mouth to speak. "I don't want to hear any argument from you missy. Now, go." Amanda and Jess left the room with long faces and slumped shoulders. As Amanda climbed the stairs, she saw her roommate, Jeannie smirking at her triumphantly.

"Goodbye, weirdoes." She said to the two girls as they passed her to go to her room. Amanda walked into her room and shut the door behind her.

"Do you even have a suitcase?" She asked Jess. Jess shook her head. "Me neither," she said, sitting down on her bed. "This sucks." Jess nodded, organizing her notebooks and pencils. "Why are you so calm about this?" She asked Jess. Jess shrugged.

"Because I know there's nothing I can do about it."

The goodbyes were the hard part. Not to the other girls, of course. They seemed pleased to see Amanda go. But telling the other Keepers she was leaving was horrible. She saw their faces when she told them; she saw how crushed they were. "I'm sorry," she had told them. Their disappointment just made leaving harder. She was happy knowing she wouldn't have to room with Jeanie anymore. But the Keepers?

Finn had decided not to work on the poem until they left. Friday morning, Amanda and Jess stood in front of Security at a nearby airport.

"You two should probably get going," Mrs. Whitman advised them. She had offered to drive them to the airport since Mrs. Nash couldn't. Finn was standing next to them sad and awkward. "I'm afraid this is far as we can go with you."

Amanda nodded. "Goodbye," she said as she headed to security.

"'Bye," Jess said and followed Amanda. Jess continued through security and to the gate. Once the plane had taken off, Jess closed her eyes, and fell into a light and restless sleep.

"_Aidez-moi_," the girl breathed. "_Aidez-moi_." She looked slightly younger then Jess, perhaps a seventh or eighth grader. She had dirty, tangled hair that fell almost to her waist. Overgrown bangs covered most of her face. Jess could see gold eyes and red lips through the hair, but not much else.

She sat in an alleyway hugging her knees like a little kid. The girl wiped her hand across her sweaty face. She let out a gasp of air, as if trying to regulate her breathing.

Jess had thought the girl had been talking to her, but she realized she was actually muttering the phrase to _herself_. Jess wanted to help the girl, but she knew it was a dream. Jess wasn't really there. The girl was alone, and no one could help her. Jess wanted desperately to help the girl, but her surroundings were beginning to fade.

When was this happening—the future? Before she could think anything else, she woke up. But long after Jess had stirred, she could hear the echo of the helpless girl's plea.

S'il vous plaît: _Please_.

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**A/N: Originally published 11/25/10. Revised 6/2/12**


	2. Important Discoveries

Chapter Two: Important Discoveries

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Charlene locked front door behind her as she entered her house. She went to her bathroom next to her bedroom.

In the mirror, Charlene looked like a ghost. Her face was paler then usual, and her eyes were red and bloodshot. Her nose was pink and runny. Her mom hadn't come home yet, and Charlene was thankful for that. She didn't want her parents to see her crying. The way the bathroom was built, there was a door in between the toilet and the sinks. The part with the sinks had two doors, both leading to different bedrooms. The door she had come through was from her bedroom. She looked at the other door.

The other bedroom.

That's what they had always called it. The _other_ bedroom, as if to say the name it was owned by would cause the earth to shatter. It might as well, the way her family acted around it. Charlene wasn't allowed to invite visitors to her house, but she knew that if she could, her parents wouldn't let them go in there. Charlene rarely went in there herself. She only went there when she was the most miserable, as if being in there would somehow solve her problems. Charlene put her hand on the sliding door, about to open it, but hesitated. What if this just made her worse?

The paper in her pocket, the poem Wayne had given them, suddenly felt heavy. _No_, she reminded herself, _you didn't steal it_. Wayne had wanted them to use it, and even if Finn had said to wait, who cared? Finn couldn't control her. None of the others knew how important it was to her. They were too distraught about Amanda and Jess leaving to even notice her take it. She opened the door and stepped inside the room. It was dusty, as usual. The walls were light pink in a way that wasn't girly, but nice. White curtains covered the window to her left. The bunk bed had unused pink and brown sheets. A chair sat in the corner. A chair intended, but never used, for reading. Charlene sighed. They had designed the room for her, even though they knew she wouldn't use it.

_She_

Charlene couldn't even think the name. It was sad, being in this room. It was a space of shattered dreams, a place to remind her of the could-have-been's. She would have lived here. She was supposed to live here, too. Charlene looked at her sister's luggage in the middle of the room. Her dad had found it outside by the pool. Her luggage was there, but she wasn't. Where was she? It was as if she disappeared right on the spot. Charlene walked over to the luggage. She opened the front pocket of the carry-on.

She took out the leather journal. On the front were peeled gold letters: HNT. A neon green scarf that was tied into a bow at the side had attached the journal together. Charlene untied the scarf. She opened the book, flipping through the pages. The journal was almost full. She looked at the first entry's date. September 13th, 2004. Her sister's eighth birthday. The writing was completely illegible. Charlene flipped through the inconsistent entries, which jumped from September to December to April. She looked at one of the more recent entries, written almost six years later.

_July 14__th__, 2010_

_Almost wrote "14__July 2010." I don't like the way Europeans write the date. I started out writing this journal like an American, and I will continue until I run out of pages. Which, by the looks of it, will be soon. I don't know what I'll do when that happens. I started this six years ago. It seems weird to finish it. Two more months until school starts. Today was a f__ê__te de nationale, the Independence Day of France. But it's something else. Charlene turns 15 today. Or maybe she turns 16. I'm not sure. We haven't talked in so long. Things were finally getting good again. We no longer hated each other. But then she became a DHI. My friends think it's so cool I'm related to her, but they don't get it. Nothing good has happened since the whole "Kingdom Keepers" thing has started. Rides have been destroyed. Relationships have been destroyed. I'm left here wondering why my sister doesn't talk to me anymore. I think they're a bad influence on her. She's not the same person. She's letting her guard down, trusting them too much. She might tell. She can't. But she might. I'm too tired to write anything else._

Charlene tried not to cry, but it didn't work. Tears streamed down her face. She hadn't known her sister had felt that way. She knew her sister was upset, but she hadn't known why. Her sister thought Charlene would tell. Charlene wanted to think that her sister was being absurd, that she would never tell, but she had actually come close to telling many times. She felt bad not telling the Keepers. But she couldn't tell them. Charlene flipped to the second-to-last entry.

_November 1__st__, 2010_

_I can't believe! Can't believe it at all! My hand is shaking as I write this. But not with fear. With anger. How could they do this to me? Don't they know this is my only home? The house I lived in when I was younger is owned by some else. Ma m__è__re told me she has a bedroom for me, as if she was planning I'd get expelled. She was the one who made me go to this stupid boarding school. So may emotions. Too many emotions. I'd continue, but I think I'd just lose it. Then I might start a real fire._

_Then I might start a real fire_. Something about that sentence scared Charlene. Like it was a threat. She turned the page to the last entry. Here it was. She unfolded the paper in her pocket. Yes. She was right. The poems were identical, with the exception of the date above it in the journal. So her sister had written it. But that didn't explain how Wayne had gotten it. There were many things about Wayne that Charlene didn't understand.

"Charlene! I'm home!" Charlene heard her mom yell from the front door. Charlene panicked. She didn't want her mom to know she had been in here. She especially didn't want her to know she been through her sister's stuff. Charlene closed the book and retied the scarf around it. She folded Wayne's poem and put it back in her pocket. She ran out of the room, closed the doors, and hid the journal under the pillow of her bed. She had been too worried to notice that the whole time she had been in Holly's room, a pirate had been watching her through the window.

"So, what did you find out?" The girl demanded when she saw the pirate.

"Shh…" The pirate reminded her. They were hiding next to one of the buildings in Main Street. Normally, they wouldn't have had a problem there, except the park didn't close for another 20 minutes. Most of the guests had left, but not all. If their plan was to work, no one could know about it.

"This better be good." The girl warned.

"Oh, it is." The pirate said with a smile. "The blonde is hiding more then just her natural eye color."

"Good. Did you send those brats away like I asked?" The girl asked. The pirate nodded.

"Applied them for some scholarship in Maryland. Maryland! There's no way they can interfere now." He looked at the Cinderella Castle in the distance. Everyone said it was beautiful, but he didn't think so. It was a symbol of goodness, and it had to be ruined if they were to succeed.

"Why do you think the cruise ships are important?" He asked her.

"Because that's where they're putting the DHIs next." She explained. "We have to make sure all five of them are here for it to work." She looked at the pirate.

"So tell me what you found out. And don't you _dare_ leave a single detail out."

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**A/N: Revision posted March 11, 2011**


	3. It's Harder Then You Think

Chapter Three: It's Harder Then You Think to Come Up With an Awesome Chapter Title

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"Are you okay?" Charlene heard a voice say. She opened her eyes. Everything was blurry. She blinked a few times, and then sat up. She was in the middle of the street in Frontierland. In front of her was a boy her age, with flaming red hair and green eyes. "Philby?" She asked. Philby smiled. He helped her up.

"Fell asleep in your clothes?" He asked.

"What? Oh." She said. She was in her baby blue and brown cheerleading uniform. "Um, yeah, I was tired." She said. Actually, she wanted to get to the apartment early so she could put the poem back without anyone noticing. But now that Philby was with her, it didn't look like that was going to happen. "My alarm clock malfunctioned and woke me up at four instead of six." She fibbed. "I tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't. What about you?"

"I stayed up until 2 A.M. last night." Philby explained. "I was working on an American History project. Five paragraph essay on the Vietnam War."

"That's too bad." Charlene said. She tried to sound cool, like this was any other day, but she was nervous. She didn't know how the others would react if they knew she had stolen the poem. She shifted in her spot. "What time is it?" She asked.

"Summer time." Philby responded. Charlene tried not to roll her eyes. Philby was so bad at cracking jokes.

"Seriously, what time is it?" She asked.

"8:45." Philby answered. "The others are coming at nine, so we have fifteen minutes until they come."

"Well, then we better move." Charlene said. "The park is still open, incase you haven't noticed." Around them, park guests were giving them strange looks. Charlene couldn't blame them. She had appeared in the middle of the street out of nowhere, and she and Philby were glowing and humming. The two went to the Castle.

"Hey Philby, can you look through the window and see if any of the others are here?" Charlene asked him as they entered the apartment.

"Sure." Philby answered. As soon as his back was turned, Charlene put the poem back on the table. "Don't see any of them." Philby said turning back around. "So, got any ideas about what's in here?" Philby asked.

"Wayne said it was a poem." Charlene responded. Philby unfolded it. Charlene looked over his shoulder at the poem as if reading it for the first time, even though she already had it memorized. "What is this, code?" Philby asked. Charlene rolled her eyes.

"It's French." Philby looked at her.

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"Well, Miss, two of the Keepers have arrived." The pirate told the girl. "Including Charlene." The girl's back was to him, and her head was down. He could hear sniffling. "Wait. Are you _crying_?" The pirate asked her. The girl took a deep breath and looked at him.

"Of course not." She looked at her reflection in a shop window. "I'm a villain; Villains don't cry." She despised her looks. Matted blonde hair fell down her back, covered in dirt and grime. Emerald eyes were bright and cat-like in the darkness, especially with her dark lashes. She had bags under her eyes, and her skin was ghostly pale. She was thin and tall, and looked gaunt and skeletal. Her sky-blue dress was ripped and torn, and her apron was covered in dirt and blood. Her nails were long from not being clipped in a long time. In her hair, a black ribbon was tied around the top like a headband. The ribbon had once been tied, but now it lay there bunched up and knotted.

"Miss Alice—" The pirate began.

"Don't call me that!" Alice replied fiercely. Her voice was cold and harsh.

"Well, then what should I call you?" The pirate asked.

"I don't know." Alice said.

"Um, Miss?" The pirate asked.

"What?" She asked him.

"When I – when I first agreed to help you, I asked you why a heroine like you would want to destroy the park. You said you would tell me later." The pirate said.

"Smith—" She started.

"Smee." He corrected.

"Right." She said. "I think you're right. I'll tell you my story, but I warn you, it is not a happy tale.

"Alice in Wonderland had always been a popular story. Which is why it was only suiting that Disney would make a movie about it. They thought it would be wonderful. And why wouldn't it? A story of a little girl's journey through a mysterious land under a rabbit hole, what person wouldn't like that? However, it wasn't as successful as Disney had hoped. They got many critical and negative reviews about it. People said it was a failure. Said that it didn't capture the magic of the original story. Soon enough, it was discarded. People loved Belle, Jasmine, Cinderella… but Alice? No one cared for her. I was seven and a half. For a while, I dealt with the neglect. But soon, it was just too much for me to remain here. About eight years ago, I ran away. I was seven and a half. I had been seven and a half for almost fifty years… I thought I would always be seven and a half. However, once I had left the grounds here, not just the Magic Kingdom but everything owned by Disney, I started to change. I started looking more… skeletal. I got older. Before I knew it, I was fifteen. Some of the Disney characters don't have this problem. Maleficent can travel all over the world and look exactly the same. Why? Because people know who she is. They fear her. But not me. No one cared about me. They didn't even know I was a Disney character! But anyway… For eight years, I just moved around, not getting to know anyone. But then she found me. Maleficent. Told me to join her cause. At first, I declined. I was still what you would consider 'good.' But she told me of the other characters like me, the ones who have been tossed aside for more popular characters such as Mickey and Cinderella. So I agreed to help. Agreed to help destroy the place that ignored me for fifty years. It hadn't changed much. Hardly anyone had noticed I had left. Few even recognized me after all of the change I had been through. How Maleficent found me, I have no idea. So, for a while I helped the Overtakers. But then Maleficent and Chernabog got captured. I realized then how careless they were. How flawed their plans were. They just wanted power, whereas I just wanted revenge. I realized how useful the Kingdom Keepers truly were. So I found you, Smee. The two of us got rid of the people who could help the Keepers the most- Wayne, Amanda, Jess, and Holly. Holly will be back, though. But that's not the point. The point is that this is the place that made us outcasts, and we need to remember that. We need to destroy it and get revenge on everyone who overlooked us. Soon, this park will be ours!" Alice smiled. "Let's go!"

"So, are we all here?" Finn asked. They were standing in front of the entrance of Frontierland.

"Let's see." Maybeck said. "There's me, you, Willa, Philby, and Cheerleader Barbie over here. Yeah, that's all of us." Charlene glared at him.

"Cheerleader Barbie? Really, Maybeck?"

Before Maybeck could say anything, there was a loud crashing noise behind them.

"What was that?" Willa asked.

"I don't know…" Finn said slowly. "But we should probably get out of here."

"Finn, Willa and I will go to the Emporium. Charlene and Maybeck, you guys wait here for two minutes then go to the store next to it. We'll meet up in the apartment in ten minutes." Philby told them. He wasn't normally the person to tell people what to do, but no one argued. The noise could mean nothing but Overtakers, and they needed to leave as soon as possible. Finn, Philby, Willa ran towards Main Street. Within seconds, they were just ant-sized lights in the middle of the park.

"Why do I have to get stuck with you?" Maybeck complained.

"Stop whining." Charlene told him. She looked at the street behind them. Fog was everywhere, making it impossible to tell what anything was. Out of nowhere, Charlene saw a figure coming towards them. "What's that?" She asked Maybeck. He looked towards the fog.

"Not sure." He admitted. "It looks like someone our age. Do you think one of them came back?" Charlene shook her head.

"Not by themselves. Plus, whoever it is, they're not glowing." The figure was coming closer. Charlene could tell now it was a girl. The girl had wavy hair that flowed to her waist. She was tall and thin. The girl continued walking towards them. Charlene was worried. Something about the dark night and the abundance of fog made her really scared. Without realizing it, she clutched Maybeck's hand. He must not have realized it either, because he didn't make a sarcastic comment about it. The girl had brown eyes. She was wearing some odd dress. She stared directly at Charlene, not even blinking. Charlene gasped when she saw the girl's eyes. They were gold with specs of brown and green. Most people would think they were fake, but Charlene knew this girl well enough to know they were her real eye color.

"Charlene?" Holly called out. Maybeck's eyes darted back and forth from Holly to Charlene.

"Charlene?" Holly called. "Charlene, is that you?"

"Who is this girl?" Maybeck asked. "She-she-" Charlene sputtered.

"Charlene?" Holly and Maybeck asked at the same time.

"Charlene, who's your friend?"

"Charlene_, who is she_?" Maybeck asked.

"What?" Holly said sounding slightly amused. "You didn't tell your friend about me? I'm hurt, Charlene." Holly said in mock-sadness.

"Wha-wha-" As much as she tried, Charlene couldn't speak properly.

"So you didn't tell him about your own sister. I bet you didn't tell any of your friends about me. I bet you said I was an only child." Holly said. "If you didn't tell them that, then you probably forgot to mention-" Holly suddenly stopped. "But we don't want anyone to know about _that_, do we? We just need to pretend it doesn't exist, and may it won't!" Holly said sarcastically. "If I were _you_," Holly looked at Maybeck for the first time. "I wouldn't be trusting her so much. There are many dark secrets in the Turner family. You don't want to find them out, Maybeck." How she knew Maybeck's name, Charlene had no idea. She was scared. "Oh, run away." Holly said as if reading Charlene's mind. "It looks like I'm not the only one in the family who runs away from her problems." With that, Holly disappeared.

"We should go back to the Castle…" Maybeck said. He suddenly let go of Charlene's hand. How long had he been holding it?

"There you two are!" Willa exclaimed when she saw them. "What took you so long?"

"Long story." Charlene said weakly, sitting down on the couch.

"Yeah." Maybeck agreed. "Cheerleader Barbie here has some explaining to do."

"Again with the Cheerleader Barbie…" Charlene muttered. "Fine." She said to the four of them. "What do you want to know?"

"Huh?" Philby asked. Maybeck told them what happened in Frontierland. "So, who was the girl?" Finn asked, looking at Charlene. She sighed.

"That was Holly Turner." She explained. "My sister."

"I thought you said you were an only child." Willa said confused.

"I lied." Charlene said simply.

"Well, if she's your sister, then how come we've never seen her before?" Philby asked.

"She went to a boarding school in France." Charlene answered.

"Went?" Finn asked.

"Stop with the questions and just let me explain already!" She snapped at them. "As I was saying, she went to a boarding school in France. She could've come here during the holidays, but she wasn't very close with anyone in my family. A month ago, she got expelled. I'm not sure why. She got on a plane and came home. She was supposed to go to one of the Middle Schools here. The day she came home, about three weeks ago, no one else was there. My parents were at work and I was at school. She put her stuff down, and then she disappeared." Charlene explained. "She's been missing ever since." It was silent for a moment.

Then Maybeck asked, "But what was Holly doing in Frontierland?"

Charlene shrugged. "I know this is going to sound really weird, but I don't think that was her." No one said anything.

"We should look at the poem. It might have something to do with your sister's disappearance." Finn said. Charlene nodded.

"It does. She wrote the same poem in her journal." Finn unfolded the paper. He looked confused.

"What is this, code?"

"Well, I think you can call that a success." Smee told Alice. She was changing back to her original appearance. "And looking like that girl. Genius! Although, I have to ask, how did you do it?" Smee asked. Alice looked at him.

"Fairies aren't the only ones with powers." She looked at the Castle in the distance. "Speaking of which, Holly's will come in handy. We just need to make sure she uses them for the correct reason."

"Huh?" Smee asked. "What do you mean? Holly has powers? Is she like the orphans?" Alice shook her head. "Holly Turner is not a Fairlie."

"She's a witch."

* * *

**A/N: Revised March 11, 2011**


	4. What Kind of Person Blows Up Milk?

Chapter Four: What Kind of Person Blows Up A Milk Bottle?

**Author's Note: Well... I lied.**

* * *

Running. Again. What was it with her and running? She was always running away from her problems, running away from anything permanent in her life. Constantly a girl with commitment issues, she ditched whatever she was afraid would hurt her in the long run. How could you trust someone, when you knew at any moment they could hurt you, emotionally and otherwise? How could you deal with the pain and rejection after they left you, lying on the floor, huddled in a pool of your own tears? She had felt that too many times, and she was determined to stop it from happening ever again. So she made friendships and broke them, went from one town to another, one school to another, never being there long enough to get attached. Never being there long enough to have any remorse about leaving, any second thoughts about turning her back to the community for the last time.

She had never really felt accepted anywhere else. People always regarded her as the freak, the one to stay away from as if her unpopularity would be contagious. She didn't mind or care. It made it all the more easy to get up and leave whenever something suspicious happened.

But then, something changed. She went to that boarding school. She found a place where her abnormalities were accepted, a place where she didn't have to look over her shoulder every five seconds to see if she was being watched. She went there for six whole years. She allowed herself to make friends, to get to know people. She foolishly let her guard down and let herself get attached. She thought she wouldn't have to leave. And why shouldn't she have? It was the longest she had ever gone to school in the same place.

So, really, it was her fault. Not that she got kicked out. Whether people wanted to believe her or not, she hadn't set the fire. It was her fault that she was so upset when she had to leave. She wanted to run away, hoping that it would somehow make her expulsion go away and she could come back and have things the way they were.

But for once, she was running away for a completely different reason. She wasn't running away from her problems. She wasn't running away from her fear. She wasn't running away from the hurt inside her. She was running away from evil, messed up Disney characters. And there was no one there to help her.

Holly Turner crept through the foliage, wiping the sweat off her forehead. After being gone so long, she had forgotten how hot Florida was in November. It was about 89 degrees, and the humidity made the air feel even stuffier. She looked at her surroundings. Palm trees lined the road leading up to the school building. The road was clean and the plants looked well, making Holly feel as if she were in some type of emerald utopia. The buildings were simple colors, ranging from beige to off-white, and were surrounded by flowers in every color imaginable. Next to the building was a half-empty parking lot full of beat up and cheap cars owned by teachers on a budget. She walked behind the school through the parking lot. Entering through the gate, she strolled through a basketball court surrounded by red, blue, and green pick-nick tables. Past the basketball court was a section of dented metal lockers. Holly began walking towards the lockers when she heard voices arguing. She hid behind a bush and watched two boys slightly older then her talk.

"Hey, Whitman." The first boy said. He was huge and tough looking, and pretty scary. He looked like the mean kids you saw in movies. "Or should I say, whit-_less_." Behind him were two boys Holly assumed were his friends. They just stared at him for a moment, and then started laughing stupidly as if just realizing he was making a joke. It must have been lunchtime, because the first boy was holding a bottle of chocolate milk in his hand. The kid he was talking to, Finn, was much leaner and had brown hair and green eyes. His expression was a mixture of fear and annoyance. "You never give up, do you Luowski?" Finn asked. Luowski raised his fists as if he were about to hit something, and Finn flinched. Luowski laughed. "Not so tough without your girlfriend around, huh?" Finn's face turned pink. Whether it was from embarrassment or anger, Holly couldn't tell. "First off, Amanda was never my girlfriend." Finn said. "And second off, I'm not scared of you." His voice shook a bit, making Holly think Finn _was_ scared of him. "Well, we'll see about that." Luowski threatened. Holly scrunched up her face in disgust. She had never liked bullying, and she didn't want to just sit there while Finn was being picked on. But what else could she do? She wasn't supposed to be there. The milk in Luowski's bottle was starting to bubble. "Look, loser." Luowski started. The bubbling increased. "Your just a pathetic wimp-" The bubbling turned to boiling. Finn looked alarmed, but Luowski didn't notice. "-who acts like he's so cool just because he's a host-thing at Disney." "No," Finn corrected. "_You're_ the one who thinks he so cool." The milk bottle began to shake. Again, Luowski didn't notice. "I ought to-" But whatever Luowski said next was drowned out in the sound of glass smashing. The milk bottle broke into a thousand pieces, the boiling droplets splashing everywhere, soaking Luowski in a cascade of brown liquid. "What the-" Luowski started. At that moment Finn sprinted from the table looking confused and frightened as ever.

Finn ran out of the lunch area and out into the parking lot. Students weren't supposed to go there during the day, but he needed a place to calm down by himself. What had just happened? Definitely not anything natural. Milk bottles didn't explode for no reason, no matter how hot it was outside. If Amanda had been there, Finn could have chalked it up to her unusual "powers"; but Amanda was far away in New England, or where ever Maryland was. Was it the Overtakers? But if it was, why? He doubted Maleficent had a hobby of blowing up beverages. Overtakers or not, Finn knew one thing for sure: he had to contact the other DHIs.

Finn got his phone out, ready to send a text to the others. Just as he turned it on, he heard the bell ring, marking the end of lunch. He put his phone in his pocket, turned around, and ran to the building, intent on getting to sixth period on time. If he was tardy again, he would get a detention. As he ran to the door, a girl zoomed past him, a blur of brown and gold.

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**Author's Note: Short chapter, but that better then waiting two more weeks, right? Chapter Five should be longer, but it won't come for a while. I have five exams to study for and I highly doubt I'll have enough free time to write a full chapter. Oh, well. So, I'd like to say thanks to the reviewers, and please review for this chapter. You don't have to, of course, but I'd like to know what you like/dislike about the story. I'm fine with negative comments so long as you tell me why you don't like it. But anyway...**

**Happy late Hanukkah! Merry early Christmas! Happy Holidays!**


	5. Do People Even Read the Chapter Titles?

Chapter Five: Seriously, Do People Even Read the Chapter Titles?

**Author's Note: Yay! Chapter Five! It's a pretty long chapter. And, my story has finally reached the 10k word mark! If only I had this kind of inspiration during NaNoWriMo... So, even though I insult online translators multiple times in this chapter, I will admit I used I translator for the poem. My french isn't that good! Anyway... here's a warning: there is some romance in the chapter. I'm trying to use the romance as some type of comic relief in the story... I'll talk more about it at the bottom. So, read! Review!**

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Holly Turner opened her eyes slowly. Where was she? Her vision was blurred, a kaleidoscope of colors in front of her. She sat up. As she did, a huge pain throbbed in her head. She looked around. Now that her sight was sorted out and her eyes had adjusted, she could she that she was in some type of janitorial closet. It was dark with the exception of a flickering bulb hanging from the ceiling. Around her, shelves lining the walls were filled with cleaning supplies and Disney memorabilia. In front of her, a large shadow stood in front a poster of a castle with the words _"Come to the Happiest Place on Earth!"_ Squinting, she saw that the shadow was a person.

"Ah, so nice that you could join us, Miss Turner." The shadow said. "Who are you?" Holly asked. She had millions of questions. Where was she? Why was she here? Who was this person, and did they have anything to do with the fact that she felt like she had just been attacked? The shadow stepped into the flickering light. The shadow was a teenage girl, with ragged blonde hair and a torn blue dress. "Who am I?" The teenager asked. "I'd be offended if I didn't I get asked that everday." She said. "My name is Alice, but don't you dare call me that." Holly's eyes widened in recognition. "As in, Alice in Wonderland?" She asked. Alice flinched, but nodded. "You're such a foolish girl. Thinking you could escape!" Alice laughed. "Yes, we found you, and quite easily. You definitely like attracting attention to yourself, don't you?" Alice knocked Holly to the ground. Weakly, Holly stood up again. "Why are you doing this? Why can't people just come out and tell me what's going on?" She asked. Alice picked up a baseball from one of the shelves. "This time, Holly Turner, you are not going to escape." Alice said, ignoring Holly's question. She lifted the bat. "Oh, and for future references," Alice told Holly. "If your hiding from someone, it would help if you don't explode whatever drink is closest to you." Alice swung. Holly saw the bat going towards her before she could register what was happening. She felt excruciating pain in her skull. And just as quickly as it came, it left. Everything went black.

"So you're saying that this guy's drink just exploded for no reason?" The ever-skeptical Maybeck asked Finn. The five Keepers were sitting at a table at the Frozen Marble, a sweet shop near Finn's school. They were all wearing hats and sunglasses so no one would recognize them. "Yeah." Finn responded. "It was the weirdest thing." He had managed to get the milk out of his clothes, but he still smelled vaguely like chocolate. "It must have something to do with the Overtakers." Philby said. Charlene bit her lip. She knew her sister was behind it, but she couldn't tell them. Not without explaining what her sister was. What _she_ was. Instead, she said, "You don't know that. I definitely think magic is involved, but I don't think it was the Overtakers." "What do you know about magic, Charlie?" Maybeck asked her. "More than you do!" Charlene snapped. _Oh God_, Charlene thought. The others were now staring at her. "What do you mean?" Willa asked, curious. "Uh…" Charlene responded.

"Hey! What about the poem? We've had it for like, what, two weeks? We haven't made any progress whatsoever." She got out the poem. "Read." She told Finn, trying to change the subject. She put the folded paper in his hand. "Um, okay." Finn said, confused. He opened it and read aloud: "Lork lee flux dee-" Willa cut him off quickly, trying not to laugh. "How about someone reads who can pronounce it right?" The others nodded, but Philby shook his head. "None of us know French." Charlene replied, "I do. Well, I don't speak it, but I know how to pronounce it correctly." "How?" Maybeck asked suspiciously. "My mom was born in Marseille, this port in southern France. She met my dad when they went to college in Quebec. I was born in Montreal, but I moved to Florida when I was a few months old. I don't speak it fluently, but I can understand some words. My parents speak it all the time at home. My sister's first language was French." Charlene answered. Maybeck narrow his eyes at her. "Well, can you read this?" Finn asked her, giving her the paper. Charlene nodded and cleared her throat. She read aloud:

"_Lorsque les flux de saphir dans les vagues d'or, vient celui qui doit être sauvé. __É__clat plages au soleil, lorsque six seront tiret et exécuter. Les rayons de soleil et de __**sable de bancs**__, la destination pour une semaine restera.__"_

When she finished, Philby asked, "Okay. But what does it mean?" "_Or_ means gold. I know that." Charlene said. "And _plages_ means beaches. I think _l__à_ means either here or where. _Saphirs_ is obviously sapphires. '_Six_' means, well, six. So there must be six of us. That means the five of us, plus someone else. I think my sister." "What's the bolded words mean?" Willa asked. Charlene squinted, concentrating. "_Sable_… sand, I think? '_Des_' means of the… And _bancs_… beach? No. It starts with a b… Bench! That's it! Sand of benches!" Charlene said. "Sand of benches? That's not English." Maybeck said. "Will you stop complaining?" Charlene snapped at him. "I'm trying my best here! And no, when you translate things from different languages they can come out weirdly. So just think. What's a sand of a bench?" She asked. "Sand of bench or bench of sand?" Philby asked. "Bench of sand? That makes a lot more sense." Finn said. "So what would you consider a bench of sand?" Willa thought about it. "An island, I guess." She said. "Like the keys." Maybeck said. "Wait. It's about the Keys?" He meant the Florida Keys, the group of islands at the tip of the peninsula. "Makes sense." Charlene said. "My sister was born in Miami. That's near the Keys." "Wait." Maybeck said. "This is Disney we're talking about. They don't have a resort in the keys."

"What about the Disney Cruise Line? What if the poem is referring to that?" Willa offered. The five thought about it for a minute. "Willa's right." Philby said, breaking the silence. "Think about it. Where are they making DHIs for?" "The Cruise line!" Finn exclaimed. Philby nodded. "Exactly." Maybeck wasn't buying it. "I've never been on a cruise ship before, but don't they make a lot of stops? How would we know which one to go to?" "Disney owns it's own Private Island in the Bahamas. If the Overtakers would go anywhere on the cruise, its there. They wouldn't look as out of place. If someone sees a weird green lady walking by, they'll think, 'Oh, its Disney, no big deal.' And do you know what the island is called?" Philby asked. "What?" Willa asked. "Castaway Cay. _Cay_. Synonym for key. In other words, it's a _bench of sand_." "Philby, you're a genius!" Willa exclaimed. _Oh God_, Charlene thought. _Not more lovey-dovey stuff. First Finn and Amanda, now Philby and Willa? That means I'm left with Maybeck. Maybeck! Gross!_ But Charlene didn't say that out loud. It would've been kind of awkward if she did. Instead, she said, "Yeah, good job, Philby."

Philby smiled. "Yeah, and now we know where to go! Only there's one problem." "Of course there is." Maybeck commented bitterly. "You're real positive today." Charlene told him sarcastically. "What's the problem?" Finn asked, ignoring the two. "How are we going to get there?" Philby asked. "Are DHIs are finished yet so we can't cross over, and we can't exactly travel there. Do you really think our parents are going to drive us to a Disney Island in the middle of November? It's a month before final exams, as my mom reminds me everyday. Plus, they'd be incredibly suspicious. They've been watching me like hawks ever since what happened in Epcot." "Mine too." Willa agreed. "When will the DHIs be ready?" "I'm not sure." Philby said. "They said it would be soon, but you never really know." "Well, how about we focus on the poem for the time being?" Finn offered. "We need to figure out the whole message." "Use one of the online translators." Philby told him. "No!" Charlene said. "Philby, I know you love technology, but online translators aren't accurate. They translate literally. When a word can have multiple meanings, it doesn't always choose the right one."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Maybeck asked. "Simple." Charlene responded. "I'll have my mom translate it." "And how are you going to do that? She's going to ask why you want it translated." Maybeck pointed out. "I'll tell her its French homework." Charlene said. "I don't think that's the best idea." Finn said. "I told my mom the cryptograph was for school and I got in big trouble for it." "Yeah, because you said it was part of a competition that didn't exist." Charlene said. "I highly doubt my mom is going to hunt down my French teacher and ask her about the assignment." "Well…" Willa said. "Right now, that seems like our only option. What should we do?" She asked Finn. "Charlene will work on the poem. Willa and Maybeck, you guys research Castaway Cay. Philby and I will find out more information in the Cruise DHIs." Finn explained. "Got it? We'll talk about tonight." The others nodded, and left the shop.

Charlene approached her mother cautiously. Mme Turner was chopping some carrots in the kitchen. _She's holding a knife_. Charlene thought. _Maybe this isn't the best time._ But Mme Turner looked up, and Charlene knew she had to ask. "What's up, sweetie?" Mme Turner asked. "Well," Charlene started. "For French, we have to write in English what we think the meaning of a poem is. But for me, to write what the meaning is about I need to know what the poem actually says. I tried to use a translator but-" "Didn't I tell you not to trust online translators?" Mme Turner asked her daughter. She put the knife down and reached her hand out. "Here, let me see it." Charlene handed out the paper. Mme Turner read it. "_Lorsque les flux de saphir dans les vagues d'or, vient celui qui doit être sauvé. __É__clat plages au soleil, lorsque six seront tiret et exécuter. Les rayons de soleil et de sable de bancs, la destination pour une semaine restera_." Mme Turner pursed her lips. "Did your French teacher write this?" "Uh… no. She got it out of a book." Charlene said quickly. She didn't want her mom suspicious of her. "Hmm, I see. Well, I think a good translation would be, 'Where sapphire flows in golden waves, comes the one who must be saved. Beaches sparkle in the sun, where six will dash and run. Rays of sun and sand of cays, the destination for a week will stay.'" "That makes sense." Charlene said. "Hey, could you write that down? It would really help." "Sure." Her mother said. "Thank you." Charlene told her. And she meant it.

Finn entered his house, exhausted from another day of school. "Hello." His mother said when she saw him. "Tired?" She asked. "You're not getting enough sleep. Have you been…?" She didn't finish, but Finn knew what she meant. Had he been crossing over. "Don't you think I would tell you if I was?" Finn asked her. It wasn't a lie; he hated lying to his parents. It was just… avoiding the truth. He felt bad about it, but at least he could look at her without giving anything away. His mom smiled. "Good. Oh, and I have some news I think you'll be excited about!" "What?" Finn asked, confused. What could she be talking about? "Disney called. They've finished setting up the DHIs on the Cruise Line!" She said happily. "Really?" Finn asked. "Yes. And that's not all." His mother told him. "They're giving the Hosts and their families a seven night stay on the _Disney Wonder_. They'll be showing the DHIs for the first time. You'll have to visit some promotional stuff, but for the most part, as long as you're wearing a disguise, you're free to relax! Just… no fishy stuff, okay? I don't want you getting into trouble." Finn nodded. "Can you work on your homework? I'm going to call Mrs. Turner. Hopefully this will make her feel better. Did you know her daughter's missing?" His mom asked. "Yeah." Finn answered, nodding. "Charlene told me." "I don't normally want you to hang out with the other Hosts, but you be extra nice to her. I can't imagine what she must be going through." Mrs. Whitman said. "Okay, mom." Finn said. And with that Finn climbed up the stairs and ran to his room. He had to talk to Philby.

Maybeck walked through Main Street, thinking. He had crossed over early, and the park was still open. He wore a black baseball cap so no one would notice him. He hoped Charlene wasn't mad at him. She had been annoyed at him earlier. He hadn't meant to be so sarcastic. He was just so suspicious of her lately. When they had first met, Charlene had told him she was an only child. Yet now, she had some weird sister disappearing. Where they actually sisters? The girl he had seen a couple days earlier looked nothing like Charlene. It was Amanda and Jess all over again. Sketchy past, hiding stuff about her parents… Speaking of which, since when was Charlene French Canadian? Neither of her parents were American, yet Charlene spoke with the same accent as everyone else did. Maybeck never understood girls, Charlene in particular. When they had met, she acted like the typical stuck-up Middle School-er, whining as if she wanted to be anywhere else. Then Epcot came, and all of a sudden she's totally into being a Keeper? It didn't make sense. The worst part was, Maybeck didn't want to be suspicious of Charlene. Maleficent, sure. She was their enemy, after all. But Charlene? More then anything, he wanted to trust her. Even when they had the "traitor" problem, he couldn't get himself to believe Charlene could be behind it. Sure, he was friends with all of the DHIs. Amanda and Jess, too. But something was different about Charlene. She wasn't like the other girls. Maybeck couldn't explain it. He knew told anyone else, though. They would probably make fun of him.

"Nice disguise." He heard a voice say, jerking him out of his thoughts. He turned around. _Of course_, he thought. It was Charlene. She wasn't in her usual nightgown. Which was good, because she would probably attract a lot of attention if was. Instead, she was wearing a silk navy blue blouse and black jeans. _She looks beautiful._ Maybeck thought. He made a mental note to never tell anyone that. "Hey." He said. "You look very dressy. What's the occasion?" "No occasion, I just wanted to look nice." Charlene responded. "Why, is that a problem?" Maybeck didn't think so. She was stunning, and it wasn't just the clothes. There was something about her… "Maybe it is." Maybeck answered. This was the way he always acted around girls. He tried to mess around with their minds, trying to act cool. "Why are you so defensive?" Charlene asked him. "You were so rude and sarcastic this afternoon. Is something bothering you?" "No, and why is it any of your business?" He asked her. "It's not." Charlene said. "I'm just a friend talking to a friend." "A friend, huh?" Maybeck said. "What do you mean by that?" "What kind of question is that?" Charlene said. "Ugh, you are so annoying! You act like you're too cool to be around anyone else, and I'm sick of the arrogance! I know you haven't had the best life, but that doesn't give you an excuse to snap at people whenever they're concerned about you! I care about you Maybeck, but I'm tired of the sarcasm. I'm tired of you making rude remarks about me and then getting mad when they're rude back. I mean can you really blame them?" Charlene stopped. "Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked.

Maybeck just stared at her for a moment, trying to comprehend what she had just said. She cared about him? She was worried about him? How? In what way? A concerned friend or something else? "Maybeck…" Charlene said slowly. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything else, Maybeck cut her off. Not by speaking though.

He kissed her on the lips, a sweet, small peck. He hadn't meant to. He had let his feelings get in the way, and he regretted it. What was Charlene going to say? Charlene pulled away and looked at him for a moment. And then she kissed him back.

"Ah, young love." A girl said, looking at them. "How adorable." She said sarcastically. The two jumped apart, startled to say the least. The girl had messy blond hair and looked about their age. Behind her, were two creatures, a weird yellow thing with electricity sparking between its antennas and a young girl. "Who are you?" Maybeck demanded. "I am Alice." The teen said. "This is Experiment 221, aka Sparky," She pointed to the yellow creature. "And this," She said gesturing to the girl. "Is Princess Eilonwy." Eilonwy had long golden blonde hair and was wearing a blue dress that looked like it was from the Middle Ages.

"So, you're Disney characters." Maybeck said. "Yes." Alice answered. "Why do you sound so surprised? Surely you would be used to this by now, wouldn't you Terry?" Maybeck flinched at hearing his first name. "Yeah, but normally you guys don't come out until after the park is closed." "We're supposed to, but… we get a little restless sometimes. And after all, the key reason we're supposed to wait is so we don't get recognized. We don't have that problem, seeing as no one ever remembers us." She sighed. "Uh, how come you're the only one speaking?" Charlene asked, looking at the two behind Alice. "Sparky doesn't speak English. And Eilonwy has a curse on her that forbids her from talking." Alice explained. "But our message is clear: we don't like new stuff. It takes away even more attention from the forgotten like us. We were hoping the DHIs would fade away, but no." Alice sighed again. "And now you're heading to the Bahamas, getting even more fame and fortune then you deserve." "Why are you telling us this?" Maybeck asked. "Because I want you to know that the forces against you have not vanished. Maleficent and Chernabog were not the only ones to despise the Kingdom Keepers. Your quest to save Disney has just begun." And with that, the three Disney characters left.

"Those characters…" Charlene muttered. "Overtakers." Maybeck said. "Yeah, I know." "But why?" Charlene asked him. "They're supposed to be the good characters!" "But they feel left out." Maybeck said. "Forgotten. You heard what she said. _'Maleficent and Chernabog were not the only ones to despise the Kingdom Keepers.' _We need to talk to the others. How did they know we're going to the Bahamas?" "Maybe they're the ones who are behind my sister's disappearance." Charlene guessed. "Who's Eilonwy, anyway?" Maybeck shrugged. "Ask Philby." Maybeck told her. "Speaking of which, we need to go to the castle. The others will be arriving any minute. We have to tell them what happened." "Yeah." Charlene agreed. "Just not the first part." "The first part…?" Maybeck asked, confused. Then he realized what she meant. "Oh. Right. Yeah, they don't need to know that." With that, the two teens walked towards the Cinderella Castle, too puzzled by the days' events to notice they were holding hands.

"We've got some important news." Finn said, once all five Hosts were sitting in the apartment. "What?" Willa asked. "In three weeks, Disney is making us go on a Cruise to promote the DHIs. They're going to use the Hosts on the Cruise Ship for the first time. It's a week long, and it'll give us plenty of time to search for Charlene's sister. Plus, this way we can plan ahead about what we're going to do once we get there." "It's perfect." Philby continued. "Being there makes it convenient to see what the Overtakers are planning." "But what if it's _too_ convenient?" Maybeck asked. Philby, Finn, and Willa looked at him strangely. He explained, "Charlene and I ran into some Overtakers on the way here. Nothing major, but they did tell us one thing: they know we're going to the Bahamas. First I thought they knew where Holly was, but now I don't think so." He looked at his friends' faces. "What if they knew about the DHIs being on the Cruise Line? What if they knew we'd have to go, and they're planning on attacking us there?" "But what are you saying?" Philby asked. "Not to go there?" "No." Maybeck said. "But I just think we should be careful."

The next two weeks were tiring. The five researched the Cruise Line, the different ships, and Castaway Cay itself. They came up with plans, changed it, made a new one, and changed it again. Their parents didn't notice. They thought their kids were planning for the Promotional events. Never did it occur to them that the teens were debating methods to find a missing girl.

Time went on, and a few weeks before Winter Break, the teens met in the apartment for final planning. It was the day before they left, and even though they should have been sleeping, the discussed the different ports. Just outside the Castle, hidden in the foliage, the Overtakers were meeting.

"I see our group has grown since last time." Alice said. "I think it's time we make a list of who is in our group." She glared at the other characters in front of her. "If you do not wish to join our cause, leave now. Once your name has been written down, there is no turning back." The character shifted a bit, but no one left. "Smith, write down what I say." "It's Smee-" "Whatever!" Alice cut him off harshly. "First, there is me. My name is Alice Liddell, but you are not allowed to call anything other then 'Miss' or 'Leader.' Is that clear?" The others nodded, frightened. Alice used to be such a happy girl… "Next is Smee. He's my second-in-command. If I'm not here, listen to him. Next there is Sparky. Then, there is Eilonwy. Since no one knows how to pronounce her name, and she can't talk, we will call her Ellen. Thank you Ellen and Sparky. I appreciated you capturing our escaped prisoner. I do not appreciate, however, the person who let her escape. I'm looking at you, Oswald!" Oswald the Lucky Rabbit stared at his feet in shame. "It's Mickey's fault." He muttered. This made no sense, but Oswald like blaming Mickey on his problems. Having someone to blame made accepting defeat a lot easier. "I'm glad you're back Violet." Alice told the purple flower. "It's nice to know another Wonderland character has my back." She paused so Smee could finish writing.

"And last," She continued. "We are joined for the first time with two more members." She gestured to the two birds. "I'm glad to say that two of the three caballeros are here. What are your names?" "José." A green parrot said. "Panchito." An orange rooster replied. "Smee, write that down." Alice ordered. Smee nodded. "Why did you decide to join us?" She asked the birds. "We felt overshadowed by Donald Duck." Panchito explained. Oswald patted his shoulder sympathetically. He knew what it felt like to be tossed aside for one of Disney's six main characters. "Smee, write that down too. We can use it to convince other characters later." Alice told Smee.

"But that is not our main concern right now." Alice said to the group. "Tonight, we are boarding the _Disney Wonder_. We need to make sure no one finds our prisoner. Smee will arrange shifts for lookout." Alice told them. When the characters groaned, Alice said, "Don't complain, this is an honor! Whoever successfully hides the prisoner from the Kingdom Keepers will be rewarded greatly. Those who fail," Alice stared at Oswald. "Will face my fury. Oswald, you will _not_ be chosen for lookout. We can't risk another failure. We might have found the girl this time, but once the others are guarding her, there's no hope. Are we clear?" The Overtakers nodded. None of them wanted to face Alice's wrath. "Let's go."

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**Author's note: Like I said. Long... So, please review! I want to hear what you think! Please!**

**Happy Holidays!**


	6. Stupid Coral

Chapter Six: Stupid Coral

**Author's Note: My! The last time I updated this, it was still 2010! Well, here's the next chapter. It's short, but I needed to mention something about Holly that becomes important in later chapters. I hope you don't mind. Next chapter is about Amanda!**

**Also, Ridley Pearson revealed the cover art for KK4! It's Willa... at MGM... holding a teddy bear... being yelled at by Frollo... Weird. He also put an excerpt on the KK Facebook page, but I can't read it because I don't have an FB account. Just thought you'd want to know that. Anyway... on with chapter six!**

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She was gliding, gracefully through the water. She had always loved swimming, loved the feeling of the waves rocking her back and forth. Swimming in the ocean was the best, though growing up by Florida's east coast might have influenced that opinion. People always fussed about sharks, but when was the last time they saw one by the shore? It wasn't _Jaws_, after all, and people really needed to sort fact from fiction. Sharks didn't purposely kill humans; they just got them confused with seals.

She floated there for a moment, and then dived down through the water. She was wearing her goggles, so she could see the schools of fish pass and the seaweed sway. It was like the ocean was singing a tune for the world above to hear, like in _The Little Mermaid_. She smiled at the thought, and then got up for air.

She heard a far away sound. Turning around, she saw her mother waving at her, and was shocked at how small she looked. Had she really gone so far? It was quite a bit deeper where she was, too.

"Come here!"

She ignored her mother, and continued to swim. She was fine. Really, her mom was too clingy. She was nine years old; she could look after herself for a few minutes! She plunged back into the water, soaking up the atmosphere, somewhat literally. She had just realized what little time she had left in the ocean. Soon she would be back in France, where the water freezes you to the core. Why did France have to be so cold? It was nice to finally see snow, but all that did was make things harder to get to. Yes, she would take her opportunity now, and hopefully that would help her get through January.

She tried to swim to the surface for more air. _Tried_. Her foot was stuck, to what she didn't know, because water was leaking into her goggles. She kicked and thrashed, trying to get it free. She couldn't hold her breath for very long, something she hated. Slowly, her surroundings started to dim…

"Sweetie?"

How she hated being called that. She opened her eyes, ready to snap at her mother, but was taken aback by where she was. She was lying on the beach, wrapped in a towel, her parents looking at her anxiously.

"What happened?" She asked, and her parents explained the events after she fainted. Her dad, nearby and watching her, had noticed she had been under the water for a while. Worried, he swam there and got her foot out of a piece of coral. He got her back to the shore and dried her off. She hadn't been in the water for very long, only about a minute or two. She had blacked out not because of lack of air, but out of fear of the situation. Her sister was building a sandcastle up near the sidewalk, not the least bit nonplussed about what happened. She wondered if her sister even knew what was going on.

"What?" She asked. Her mom had told her something, but she hadn't heard it; she had been lost in her thoughts. "I hope you're staying out of the water for awhile." Her mother repeated. She nodded. "I don't want to get back in the water ever again!" She exclaimed.

She kept her word. Five years later, she hadn't swum once. She began to loathe water, taking showers instead of baths and keeping out of the rain when she could avoid it. But it wasn't just loathing; it was a fear, too. Hydrophobia, it was called. She didn't care for the name, she just didn't want to be in large bodies of water. _Ever_. She used to think the ocean was beautiful.

But when you know you could drown, it doesn't look so pretty anymore.

Holly Turner lay there, drifting in and out of consciousness. She felt like she was floating. Most of the time her eyes were closed. But when they opened, she saw blue streaked with white. The blue was like a layer, and above the layer fuzzy-looking object moved around. She couldn't tell what the objects were, or why it felt as if she was in some type of air bubble, keeping her from touching the blue.

What was it about the blue that looked so familiar? And the white, patterns, the sun's ray penetrating through, but not touching her bubble… It was like she was in the ocean, only there was no fish, not plants, and no life in general. The blue seemed to be oddly rectangular, and felt fake and unnatural to her. But she could care less about the shape. One question ran through her mind at the speed of sound:

_Where the heck am I?_


	7. When You're French, You Go to Collège

Chapter Seven: When You're French, You Go To Collège at Eleven

**Author's Note: Yay! I managed to update this weekend! Don't expect another update soon, I have to write an essay for SS and that'll probably take up most of my time this weekend. Oh, and to explain the title, "collège" is the name for Middle School in France. I think it's grades 6-9, which would mean Amanda would be there. If not, oh well. Also, can you spot my so-obvious-it's-practically-in-your-face reference to HP?**

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Unconsciously, Amanda dug her shoe into the dirt. She looked up at the building in front of her in awe. Surrounding her was the campus of her new boarding school. Collège de Pasmaison would be her school until someone decided she needed to move. She had only been in Maryland for a week when it had happened. What "it" was, Amanda didn't know. Somehow she had gotten into a fight with someone, and she had managed to knock that person into a wall. They hadn't been hurt, but the teacher who saw her do it wasn't pleased. What happened next was a blur. Soon she was repacking her bags and heading to France.

According to the pamphlet she had been given, Pasmaison was a school for "special" kids. Amanda wasn't sure what that meant. Did they think she was crazy? Did they know about her "abilities"? Why had they sent her here?

As nervous as she was, Amanda couldn't help but admire the campus. They school was very old, and the buildings had obviously been built over different time periods. It was easy to figure out which were the oldest- they were built with grey and black stone, and had no built in electricity. They were the office building, like the admissions building she was standing in front of. Then came the wooden ones. These were the majority of the buildings. They looked as if they had been built twenty to thirty years ago, and were most of the classrooms. The newest were drywall, and had probably been built in the last decade.

"_Tu t'appelles Amanda?"_

Amanda jumped. Looking at the campus, she hadn't noticed the girl in front of her. She was tall with curly, ash blonde hair and hazel eyes.

"What?" Amanda asked. "Oh, you speak English? It's my first language, but living here I don't speak it much in public." The girl replied. She had a slight British accent. "Are you Amanda Lockhart?" She repeated, this time in English. Amanda nodded slowly. "Hullo, I'm Jennette. I'm supposed to give you a tour of the school." Jennette started walking away, and Amanda followed her.

"So, what are you?" Jennette asked. "What?" Amanda asked. What kind of question was that? "I said, what are you?" She repeated. "You know, witch, werewolf, that kind of thing." Amanda blinked. Did she just say werewolf? "Er… my sister and I call ourselves 'Fairlies.'" Amanda replied. She wasn't sure what this girl was talking about, but hoped she didn't think Amanda was mad. "You're a Fairlie? That's nice, we don't have very many of them here." Amanda stared at her. "New to this, are you?" Jennette asked with a laugh. "You called yourself a Fairlie, I thought you knew… but I'll explain." Jennette sat on bench. Amanda stood next to her, waiting for an explanation.

"What's the difference between a Yorkie and a Russell Terrier?" Jennette asked. "Er…" Amanda hadn't expected that response. "I mean, they're both dogs, aren't they?" Jennette elaborated. "But they have different names. Why?" "Well, they're different breeds." Amanda answered. "But humans don't have breeds, do they?" Jennette asked. "No." Amanda said. "But we've got differences." Jennette nodded. "More differences then most Mortals recognize."

"You see, there are many different types of humans. The, for lack of words, 'normal' ones are what we call Mortals. Some people call them Muggles, but that's beside the point.

"The others are what we call 'supernatural.' This can mean many things. The most common are witches. A witch is a supernatural with magical powers. Each witch has a unique power. They also can perform basic spells and brew some potions. A male witch can also be called a wizard, but not many people bother to. An important thing about witches is that their powers are genetic. You can't be a witch without having at least one parent or grandparent with powers. A witch can have a child who is mortal, but not the other way around.

"Why is this important? Because it brings us to Fairlies. No one really understands what Fairlies are. They have unique powers just like witches do, but they cannot perform spells or make potions. Their powers aren't genetic, but completely random. They do not need to have parents who are Fairlies, and even if they did, they probably wouldn't be one anyway.

"There are other supernaturals, but these ones are often considered part-human. Vampires are considered this, but there aren't very many of them. Which is good, because it would be a huge problem if there were. Vampires aren't anything like the ones you see in Twilight. They don't sparkle, and they aren't as friendly as Stephanie Meyer makes them out to be. They can't live off of animal blood, but don't worry about them biting people. People have set up blood banks specifically to help them.

"Another kind is shape-shifters. They're pretty simple: humans who can turn into animals. This often gets confused with werewolves, since some can shift into wolves. Werewolves only transform at the full moon, whereas shape-shifters shift whenever they want to. The shifters also have the mentality of a human, but werewolves act like monsters. Werewolves look different, too. They're way bigger. Hairier, too.

"So there you have it." Jennette finished. "What are you?" Amanda asked. "Shape-shifter. I shift into a Shitzu." She answered. "Cool." Amanda said. "So… this is a magic school?" She asked. Jennette nodded. "I guess you could call it that. All the basic classes are the same as they would be at any school, but there is extra stuff to help you control your powers. Any questions?" "Can someone be multiple things? Like, a werewolf and a witch?" "It depends." Jennette responded. "You can't be both a witch and a Fairlie, or a werewolf and a shape-shifter. Only Mortals can become Vampires. But a werewolf can be a witch, and so can a shape-shifter. My mum's a witch, but I dunno if I have powers or not. They take awhile to develop, and I'm only fourteen." "So, does that mean I might get more powers in a few years?" Amanda asked. Jennette shrugged. "Maybe. Like I said, no one really knows with Fairlies."

Amanda looked at the space behind Jennette. It was building, but most of it was missing. And what was left was scorched.

"What happened there?" She asked. Jennette jerked her head around. "Oh, that?" Jennette said casually. "Someone burned it down." "Burned it down?" Amanda exclaimed. "Yeah. My old roommate, in fact. She was expelled about a month and a half ago." Jennette responded. "Only expelled? Isn't that a crime?" Amanda asked, still alarmed. "Normally. But she didn't do it on purpose. She was a witch with the power of fire, water, and wind. You can't blame her for losing her temper now and then. But it went too far." Jennette said. "I'll say." Amanda commented. "Are they going to rebuild it?" "Eventually." Jennette answered. "But insurance is hard to get when magic is involved." "I guess that makes sense." Amanda muttered. "What's her name?" "Holly Noel Turner." Jennette said. "But let's not dwell on the past. Want to get some lunch?" Amanda nodded, realizing for the first time how hungry she was. She hadn't eaten in hours.

As she followed Jennette to the dinning hall, Amanda couldn't help but think about the girl Jennette had mentioned. She burned down a building because she lost her temper? How much more harm would Amanda cause, just because she was considered what Jennette had called 'supernatural'? And Holly Turner…

Where had she heard that name before?

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**Thank you to those who reviewed. I started another fic, so my updates will be even less frequent. Sorry.**


	8. Aboard the Wonderboat

Chapter Eight: Aboard the Wondership

**Author's Note: Yay, I finished the chapter and I'm finished with all of my homework (well, except for English). So, the plot starts getting more interesting with this chapter since they finally get aboard the ship. Let me just note that I've never been on a Disney Cruise, so this might not be that accurate. The next chapter, which I have planned but not actually written, will definitely get the plot moving. I think you'll really like it. But anyway, here's the chapter!

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The _Disney Wonder_ was huge, with ten decks, 945 crewmembers, and a capacity of over 2,000 people. The bottom decks of the ship were painted black with a gold stripe. The upper decks were pure white, and its two horns were red and black. At the top of the ship was its logo, blue waves under a white Mickey Mouse head. At the front of the ship, along with its name, was a figure of Donald Duck painting the ship and one of his nephews holding a pair of scissors.

According to Philby, the Wonder contained three pools: a family one, a toddler one, and one for everyone. It had two theatres, Walt Disney and Buena Vista, and two shows, "Toy Story – the Musical" and "The Golden Mickeys". It had dining rooms, teen clubs, and even a fitness center. All of this was Disney-fied, from the decorations to the crewmembers' uniforms to the ship's horn (which was the first few notes of "When You Wish Upon a Star").

It amazed Finn that so much could fit in one boat and still allow it to float. He was at Port Canaveral with his parents and his sister. It was ridiculously early, so much that the sun had barely risen in the sky. One of the perks of being a DHI was that he and his family were one of the first to get aboard. This meant he didn't have to wait for hours in a huge line, but Finn was not a morning person. It didn't look like Maybeck was either. Maybeck and Jelly were behind him. Jelly was drinking coffee and trying (and failing) to wake Maybeck up. Charlene, Willa, and Philby were all nearby. The two girls were chatting, and neither of them seemed to be bothered by the fact that it was five in the morning. How did girls always manage to look perfect? Finn didn't care that much about how he looked, and their flawless appearances always puzzled him.

Finn waved to Philby, who was typing something on his iPad. Philby waved back, then pointed at something in Finn's direction. Finn turned around, and saw that they had started letting passengers aboard.

The embarkation process was long and dull. Finn and his family were given plastic cards, which would be scanned whenever they entered or left the ship. The card was also their room key.

They got on the ship on the third deck. The third deck, according to the deck plan he was given, was one of the few decks that did not have any staterooms, and also contained the Lobby Atrium.

Finn entered the Lobby and gasped.

It was breathtakingly beautiful. The Lobby was Little Mermaid themed. The carpeted floor was a pattern of blue, red, and gold. The walls and furnishings were gold with varying shades of blue as an accent. When Finn looked up, he could see the fourth and fifth decks. Hanging from the ceiling were huge pieces of what looked like blown glass shaped to look like pieces of coral. On the outer walls, circular windows showed an ocean view.

In front of Finn was a statue of Ariel. Behind her was the entrance Triton's, one of the ships many dinning areas. On either side of Triton's were large Egyptian blue staircase leading up to the next floor.

"_Oh Mon Dieu."_

Turning around, Finn saw Charlene and her parents enter the lobby.

"_Elle est belle, non?"_ Mme Turner asked her daughter. Charlene nodded, gazing absentmindedly at the elevators. Finn had never seen Charlene's parents before. Her mother had sandy blonde hair and green eyes. She was a few inches taller then her daughter. Mr. Turner had ash blonde hair and hazel eyes. He was over six feet tall. Finn found it odd that Charlene had blue eyes even though neither of her parents did. Then again, Maybeck had said that Charlene's sister had yellow eyes.

Both of her parents had circles under their eyes. Their younger daughter had been missing for a month now, and Finn figured that they were worried out of their minds. However, they both looked happy and excited at the moment.

"Hey, Finn!" Charlene called. Finn set his suitcase down and walked to her. "Hey, Charlie." He greeted. "Charlie?" Her mother repeated. Apparently, she hadn't heard her daughter's nickname before. "Maman, this is Finn." Charlene introduced. "Finn, these are my parents." "Hello, Finn." Her father greeted. He had a different accent, though Finn couldn't place where it was from. "Hi." He said awkwardly. He had seen Philby's mom at Epcot, but the only guardian of the Keepers that he had met before was Jelly. _"Est-il ton petit ami?"_ Mme Turner asked Charlene. She blushed and mumbled a small "non_._"

Finn was confused at Charlene's response. What had her mother asked her to make her act like that? But his thoughts were quickly interrupted by his mother.

"Oh, hello, I don't think we've met before." His mother said to Charlene's mom. They continued to talk for a few minutes while he and Charlene met up with the others.

"I've got the itinerary here." Philby said when they reached him. He held out a piece of paper in front of him. "Tomorrow we go to Castaway Cay. Then, three days later, we visit it again before heading back here. It would help if we had the two days next to each other, but we don't, so we have to be quick. If we try to get Holly tomorrow, then we'll have to that day. Once the OTs know that we know where she is, they'll move her. And it will probably be back in Orlando by the time we figure out where they put her." Philby explained. "You're really cheery today." Maybeck grumbled sarcastically. He was probably still annoyed at the time. "Funny you're saying that." Willa retorted. "I mean, when have you ever been Mr. Brightside?" Maybeck responded, "Oh, sure, defend your boyfriend." Willa glared at him. "Boyfriend, huh? And what about you and Charlene?" She asked. Maybeck returned the glare, but before he could say anything back, Finn cut in, "Guys, guys! We shouldn't be fighting, okay? I mean, we're on vacation." Philby nodded. "Finn's right." "Of course I am." Finn said. He could just imagine Amanda rolling her eyes at him. The thought of it just made him miss her more. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I don't really fancy carrying my luggage around all day, so I'm going to go back to my parents and find my room." Philby said before wandering off. Slowly, the others left to get back to their parents.

The staterooms were pretty cool, and had an awesome ocean view. Maybeck's room was smaller then the rest of the DHIs, since it was only him and his aunt.

"You and the other DHIs seem to be really close." Jelly observed. Maybeck nodded. Most of the parents didn't approve of the Keepers hanging out together. They all got scared when their kids suddenly got into comas. Philby's mom had even taken him to the hospital. Jelly had been pretty freaked out when Maybeck had gotten trapped in Space Mountain, but she was a bit more accepting then the others. Finn's mom was also pretty cool about it, though Willa's wasn't. She never allowed the other DHIs to come to her house, and didn't like it when Willa met with them outside of their promotional stuff for Disney. Maybeck didn't know about Willa's father. She never mentioned him, and Maybeck guessed that he was either deceased or lived far away.

"Yeah, well we've known each other for over a year." Maybeck replied. "True, but lately it's as if you're planning something." Jelly said, concerned. "We're just discussing the DHIs being added to the Cruise Line." Maybeck said. "Disney hasn't announced it to the public, so it's going to be a big deal when they say it tonight." "Right." Jelly commented. "What's that party tonight called again?" She asked. "The 'Adventure Away! Sail-Away Celebration.'" Maybeck answered with a sigh. He didn't like Disney's big celebrations, and they had an awful lot of them. "I don't know how you people remember that." Jelly said. "It's such a long name."

Maybeck stomach growled. "Hungry?" Jelly asked him. He nodded. He was constantly hungry, and it didn't help that he had had a small breakfast that morning. "Let's find something to eat." Jelly said and the two left their room.

"People are starting to board." Charlene told her parents as she entered her stateroom. The stateroom had a queen-sized bed and one of those couches that could be turned into beds. It was perfect for three people, but Charlene wished there were four of them. She wondered if Holly would love it or hate it. It wasn't as if Holly got seasick or anything, she just wasn't very fond of water. Charlene hoped she wouldn't mind the room when she got on the ship – that is, _if_ she got on the ship. Charlene was hopeful that they would rescue Holly, but there was still a doubtful voice at the back of her mind convinced something would go wrong. She realized this must have been what Amanda was feeling back in AK, but there were differences that made it worse. Holly and Charlene were actually sisters, and they weren't very close. She doubted Holly would be very pleased to see her. Also, there was a much smaller time limit. They'd only have a day in the port, and they wouldn't let people off until six. Both the Cruise Line and the Cay were completely foreign to her, unlike Animal Kingdom, which she knew very well. Willa had found a map of Castaway Cay to help them navigate it, but Charlene wasn't sure if it would help. They knew Holly was there, but they didn't know where on the island she was. _Just stop worrying about it,_ she told herself, _just relax._

Charlene wiped the sweat off her face as she walked across the pool area. She was at "Goofy's Pool", a large family pool located in the middle of Deck Nine. At the bottom of the pool was a picture of Goofy wearing a swimsuit and snorkeling mask. On the left side of the pool were two hot tubs and an eating area. On the other side was a wooden stage and a huge LED screen. Throughout the day, Disney movies and TV shows would be shown on the screen, but at the moment it just showed the Cruise Line logo.

She weaved her way around the deck chairs to the stage. The DHIs were supposed to meet there and help kick off the "Adventure Away! Sail-away Celebration." The party wouldn't start for another twenty minutes, though, and Charlene was not looking forward to waiting out in the heat.

She waved to the other Keepers when she climbed up the stage's stairs. She was the last one to arrive. Around her, crewmembers were hurrying around, busy preparing for the event.

Once the twenty minutes had passed, guests started to arrive and the party started. The Keepers hung in the back while the celebration went on. Crewmembers danced, Disney characters made appearances, and confetti went everywhere. Cameras showed random passengers on the big screen. Everyone clapped and danced, having the time of their lives. The celebration was about 45-minutes, and ended with the blowing of the ship's horn and the ship leaving the dock.

One of the crewmembers, a twenty-some redhead woman grabbed the microphone and addressed the crowd.

"Well, I hope you all enjoyed the party! I hope you have a wonderful time on the cruise! Normally this would be the end of our celebration, but this is a special cruise.

"How many of you know who the Kingdom Keepers are?" She asked the crowd. Almost everyone raised their hand or shouted out "yes." "How many of you love to see the DHIs at the parks?" She asked. Everyone kept his or her hand up. "How may of you want to be the first to see the DHIs here, on the Cruise Line, for the first time ever?" She asked and everyone cheered like crazy. "Well, you all know Disney World is the place where your dreams come true. Today, your dream of seeing the DHIs is about to come true because we are going to set up the DHIs all around the cruise ship!" People continued to cheer. "To help us, here are the real, live, Keepers!"

The five of them took this as their cue and walked up to the edge of the stage with the woman. They smiled and waved at the crowd, who was now cheering louder then ever before.

"Charlene Turner, Finn Whitman, Willa Angelo, Dell Philby, and Donnie Maybeck!" The woman shouted, as she said each teen's name they took a step forward. Philby made a face when they said his first name. Maybeck didn't care when his first name was called, since it was his stage name and not his real one.

The audience clapped and cheered for the Keepers. "And… here are your new Cruise DHIs!" The woman shouted into the microphone. Suddenly, next to each Keeper, their DHI was formed. The holograms were identical to the teens, except for the sailor-themed clothes they were wearing. On each of the holograms shirt their name was printed in red letters. The holograms started waving at the crowd. In unison, the five holograms said, "I hope you enjoy your stay at _Disney Wonder_!" before disappearing. The woman continued to talk about the DHIs for a few more minutes, and then left the stage. Slowly, most of the people in the crowd left the area. A few stayed and looked around.

"I'm hungry." Maybeck complained as the five of them started to head back. "You're always hungry." Charlene told him. "You do realize we have to wear disguises now, right?" Philby said. "I know." Willa replied with a groan. "At least when we crossed over we could be ourselves." Philby stopped dead in his tracks. "What?" Willa asked, looking at him.

"Crossing over." He said. "Once we fall asleep, we're going to crossover here. And we're going to be seen. By _everyone_."

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**Author's Note: Thank you to all the reviewers, but can I get a little more feedback? For example, rate this chapter from one to ten, one being a blah and ten being totally awesome. I really want to know what you think! So, I'm going to start the next chapter now, since I have more inspiration for this then for TELaH (my HP fic) at the moment. I don't know when it'll be posted, though!**


	9. Too Tired To Have a Witty Chapter Title

Chapter Nine: Sometimes You Are Just Too Tired to Think of a Witty Chapter Title

**A/N: Okay, I'm rushing because I have to go to bed in about five minutes. Few things...**

**Reviewers- Thanks. I'll answer your questions next chapter. Yay, over ten reviews...**

**Jeanie- RP gave no physical description of her in KK3, I made one up for her**

**Mickey's Pool- Too shallow for end to work, but too many consistency errors to change it to Goofy's Pool. Suspension of disbelief, okay?**

**Hope you enjoy chapter...

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"Please explain to me how _you_, the most popular of the DHIs, are the only one of us to not have to go to a stupid promotional event." Philby asked Finn after they had finished lunch. "Got lucky, I guess." Finn said with shrug. "I mean, I'm the only one who doesn't have anything _now_, but this evening is going to be crazy." Then after a moment added, "And I wouldn't say I'm the most popular." Willa rolled her eyes, overhearing the two. "Please, be real Finn. Girls love you. To the point where it's kind of creepy." Finn nodded, thinking about _her_. He vowed to never see her again, but considering how she lived nearby to him, that probably wouldn't be the case. "Yeah, this must be how Justin Bieber feels." He muttered, but no one heard him.

"So, what's wrong with that pool?" Finn asked Philby. Philby shrugged. "Don't know. Apparently it's been having problems for over a week." They were talking about Mickey's Pool, the kid's pool at the back of Deck Nine. It had been closed off ever since they got there. They didn't know why it was closed, just that it was considered "unsafe." "And you guys think it's the OTs?" He asked. Willa nodded. "It's suspicious enough to be. Just check it out." She told him. "Normally we go in groups of two, but I doubt the Overtakers would try anything in broad daylight around a bunch of passengers." "I hope." Finn said.

"Well, I must be going." Willa announced, standing up. "Me, too." Philby said. The two left Finn alone to his thoughts.

He strolled past Goofy's Pool and looked up at the screen above it. It was currently showing an old episode of _Phil of the Future_. He watched it for a few minutes before someone tapped on his shoulder. Startled, her turned around and saw a girl his age staring intently at him, her mouth stretched out into a big, slightly creepy smile.

"OhmygodhiFinnit'ssonicetoseeyouagain." She said very quickly.

"Um, what?" Finn said, flabbergasted. She took a deep breath and said, "Oh my god, hi, Finn! It's so nice to see you again!" "I'm sorry, but who are you?" He asked politely, though he knew very well who she was.

_Her._

Why did the worst things always happen to him?

"It's me, Jeannie!" Jeannie told him. Jeannie was Amanda and Jess's old roommate. "Remember, you took me on a date a couple months ago?" Finn nodded slowly. He remembered the afternoon well. Too well. He wanted to forget it, but it kept repeating in his head, a nightmare on an indefinite loop. Well, maybe that was an exaggeration. But it was pretty bad.

_Finn waited awkwardly by the school building. Jeannie went to a different school then him, and wouldn't be here for a few more minutes. He had never met her before, but the way Amanda and Jess described her was pretty bad. He figured they were just being dramatic, but he was dreading his "date" with her. He had promised to go out with her a few weeks ago to get Amanda and Jess out of trouble. He hoped the day wouldn't be too bad._

_Amanda had promised to go with him. But she had gotten a detention that day, and couldn't go. He would all by himself with some stranger._

_He saw a girl walking towards him. She had short auburn hair and muddy brown eyes. She was about average height, average weight. If Finn hadn't been waiting, he probably wouldn't have noticed her._

"_Hey, I feel kind of weird asking this, but are you Jeannie Puckett?" He asked her. She nodded vigorously. "Okay. I'm–" He started. "Oh, I know who you are." She cut him off. "Uh… okay…" He said, starting to feel uncomfortable. "You're Finn Whitman, the best of the DHIs!" She said to him. "I'm not necessarily the best." He muttered, but Jeannie heard him. "Oh, it's so cute how you're so modest!" She exclaimed. "Anyway, _I_ think you're the best." She continued, leaning towards him. He took a step back. He knew it was a compliment, but somehow Jeannie's comment made him feel even more uncomfortable._

"_So, let's go to our date!" Jeannie nearly shouted. "Yeah… about that…" Finn started. "You know, we don't have to call it a 'date.' We could just say we're hanging out." Jeannie frowned. "But I want to call it a date!" She replied. She turned around and started walking to the Frozen Marble. Finn had no choice but to follow._

_As soon as he caught up to her (she was walking pretty fast), she grabbed his hand. "Uh, what are you doing?" He asked her. "Holding your hand, silly!" Jeannie said, smiling. Finn tried to pull his hand away, but Jeannie had a surprisingly strong grip._

_Eventually they got to the Frozen Marble. Jeannie got their orders, and Finn looked for a table. He sat down, glad to have a moment by himself._

"_Finn?"_

_Finn looked up to see Charlene standing in front of him. "Oh, hey." He said, pleased to see her. "Hi." She greeted. "What's up?" She asked him. He shrugged, not wanting to mention Jeannie. "You?" He asked her. "Same old, same old." She said. She looked at the empty seat next to him. "Anyone sitting here?" She asked._

"_Actually, yes, someone is." Jeannie had just reached the table. "Who are you?" She asked a bit rudely. "My name's Charlene." Charlene answered. "Well, I'm Jeannie. You know, Finn's _date_?" She said, putting an emphasis on the word "date." "Oh right." Charlene said, smiling. "Finn's mentioned you a lot." Jeannie turned to Finn. "You have?" She asked him, looking relived. Finn glared at Charlene. _Great, _he thought_. Now Jeannie's going to think I'm in love with her or something. _He had only mentioned her to Charlene once, and he had told her how he didn't want to go._

_Charlene left and Jeannie sat down. The rest of the date Finn sat in silence and ate his ice cream. He would occasionally mumble "um" or "sure" whenever Jeannie expected him to respond. She chatted constantly, talking about how cool she thought it was that he was a host at Disney, or how annoying she found her roommates. "Always ignoring Mrs. Nash." She said. "It's so disrespectful, don't you think? I mean, it so caring of her, taking care of us, and the other girls don't even bother to follow her rules! They don't like that I tell on them, but what else am I supposed to do? I mean, really."_

_Finally, after hour and a half, Finn was finally able to leave. _At least it's over, _he thought._

"So, anyway," Jeannie interrupted his thoughts. "It's so great that you're here! Want to have lunch with me?" She asked him. He shook his head. "Just ate." "Oh, well, we could just hang out." She said. "Sorry, but I have some promotional stuff for the DHIs." He lied. He hated lying, but at least it was Jeannie he was lying to, not his parents. "Got to go." He said and sprinted away.

"Well, we can talk later, right?" She called after him, but he just ignored her.

He reached Mickey's Pool a few minutes later. Like Goofy's Pool, there was a picture at the bottom of the pool of the character it was named after. It had a yellow slide with it. Around the pool were ropes and Caution: Wet Floor signs.

Finn walked towards the pool carefully, so he wouldn't slip in the puddles. He walked to the edge of the pool and looked around. No one was nearby, Overtakers or not. He was about to walk back, about to tell the others there was nothing there, when he saw something in the water. He leaned in closer, trying to figure out what it was. It was large, about the same size as he was. He leaned in even closer. But he couldn't figure out what it was. If only he was closer…

SPLASH.

Before Finn knew what was happening, he fell into the pool. Luckily, it wasn't very deep, and he reached the surface quickly. After taking a breath, he plunged into the water. He swam towards the object. Realizing what it was, he gasped.

Floating in the water was a fourteen year old girl by the name of Holly Turner.

* * *

**A/N: Oh noes, it's a cliff-hanger! Or is it? Being the author it's hard to tell. Rate this chapter from one to ten, please? 'Night!**


	10. Weird's the New Normal

Chapter Ten: Weird's the New Normal

**(Holly POV)**

* * *

The first thing I remembered before losing consciousness was the sound of splashing water and feeling of my arm being ripped out of its socket.

"Hello?"

I couldn't hear. I couldn't think. My body ached and my lungs screamed for air.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Blackness surrounded me. It was minutes before I realized my eyes were closed.

My head hurt and my arms were sore, but I ignored it and sat up. Immediately I wished I hadn't. My hands reached up to my head. "Ow" was an understatement for how I felt.

"Here."

I felt something being pushed into my hand. I examined it. Motrin. A thump indicated that a water glass had been set down at my side. After swallowing the pill, I looked for the source of the voice. Whoever had been talking to me had left.

I scanned my surroundings. The ground was wet (lovely), striped-blue deck chairs were set in rows, and the horizon was light blue.

Wait – the horizon?

I walked toward the white fence surrounding the area I was in. Looking down, I saw the ocean (or at least some body of water) far, far bellow.

I heard a scream from somewhere (a scream I later figured out was my own) and a boy around my age came running towards me.

"_Qui __ê__tes-vous?"_ I demanded. _"O__ù__ suis-je?"_

He grabbed my arm, but I yanked it away.

"_Qui __ê__tes-vous?"_ I repeated. "Look," He started. "Just calm down and I'll-" _"Calme vous-m__ê__me?"_ I said with a sardonic laugh. _"Je ne calmerai pas! Si vous __ê__tes l'un d'entre eux-"_ He put his hand on my mouth to stop me from talking. "Look, you're going to attract unwanted attention by screaming, and we're not supposed to be here in the first place." He told me. He led the way to the door and I followed him, trying not to freak out.

Once inside, he explained. "Hi, I'm Finn. I'm one of the hologram hosts at Disney, just like your sister." "You know my sister?" I cut in. He nodded. "All those rumors going around about us are true. There are Disney villains called Overtakers trying to destroy the park. The seven of us – Amanda, Charlene, Jess, Maybeck, Philby, Willa, and I – are trying to stop them. We captured their leaders, Chernabog and Maleficent-" "Maleficent?" I blurted. "The demon Elphaba-imposter from _Sleeping Beauty_?" "Uh, yeah." He responded, looking at me as if I were insane.

I wish people would quit giving me that look.

"Anyway, we captured them a couple months ago." Finn continued. "But even without their leaders, the Overtakers keep messing up things for us." "Well, that's just wonderful." I remarked sarcastically. "But what does this have to do with me?" "Well, I'm not sure. For some reason, the Overtakers kidnapped you and sent here." He answered. "'Scuse me, but where exactly is 'here'?" I asked him. "The Disney Wonder." He replied. "Or more specifically, in the supply closet." I stared at the cleaning supplies around me. "The Disney Wonder? What, does Disney own an airline now, too?" I asked. "The Wonder is a cruise ship, not a plane." Finn corrected. "Let's get out of here." I said, eyeing a mouse climbing up a nearby ladder.

I had to cover my eyes when we got outside. The sun was so bright here. "So if this is a cruise ship, then what ocean are we in?" I asked Finn. "Atlantic." He answered. "We're off the coast of Florida, heading to a private island called Castaway Cay." We walked in silence for a while. Eventually we reached a large pool. I groaned.

"How many pools are there on this stupid ship?" I complained. "Three." Finn said. "Why? You're already surrounded by water, why do you need three freaking pools along with it?" I asked no one in particular. "Don't like water?" Finn asked. I shook my head. "I have hydrophobia." I told him. Then, seeing his puzzled expression, I explained, "The fear of water."

"Aye! You there!" I heard from behind. Finn and I turned around to see a man dressed in pirate clothes.

Um, what?

The man walked towards us, ignoring the stares he was getting from the people around us. "Aye, matey! What do you think your doing?" He yelled at Finn. The pirate guy pulled out a sword and pointed it at him. Finn took a step back. "Finn, what's going on?" I whispered. He mumbled something. "Sorry, didn't catch that." I whispered.

"Overtaker." He told me. "What do you want?" He asked louder. "You're trespassing on our land." Pirate Guy said. "Am I?" Finn asked. "Well first of all, we're not on land, we're at sea." He told him. "Second of all, what about all these other people? You don't seem to have a problem with them." "We don't mind neutrals on our ship. But Kingdom Keepers! You aren't going anywhere, mate!" Pirate Guy said.

"Take a chill pill, dude!" I yelled at him. "I mean, seriously!" Finn gave me a look as if to say, _not helping_. "We're going to leave anyway, we're going to Deck Two-" Finn said, but it didn't help. "We don't care that you're on this deck, we care that you're on this ship! We will get rid of you kids once and for all!" Pirate Guy yelled. He really likes yelling.

I heard the crowd murmur excitedly. They thought this was some form of entertainment. Sick, sick people.

"You can't tell us what to do!" I shouted at him. "Contrary to what you believe, this isn't your ship! So go back to the Black Pearl, or whatever!" "Don't take this the wrong way, Holly, but _shut up_." Finn hissed at me. Pirate Guy, however, just smiled. "Get her." He ordered to someone behind me.

Someone grabbed my arms. I tried to get away, but couldn't. "You're only making this harder for yourself." Said the guy who grabbed me. Turning my head to the side, I saw that it was Smee from Peter Pan. Another pirate grabbed Finn, who looked at me. "You don't happen to have a plan, do you?" He whispered. "I know a way to get us out of this, but I can't do it with everyone watching us. If you can get their attention elsewhere, it might work." I told him. He nodded.

"Hey!" He shouted to the crowd. "Is that Mickey Mouse?" Everyone's head turned to the opposite direction. Taking the opportunity, I created an electric shock move through my body. Smee jumped back and let go of me. I pushed back the pirate holding Finn, my hands sparking electricity. "Come on." I said to Finn, running into the crowd. He followed me to the stairs. I looked at him.

"Up or down?" I asked. He looked behind him, where Pirate Guy and Smee were running towards us. "Down." He said. As we climbed down the stairs, I could understand why he chose to go down. We have more floors to pass, and it was much less exhausting to go downstairs then upstairs.

We reached Deck Eight, but I continued down. I could hear the two pirates arguing above us.

"I told you, we should have used those metal boxes!"

"I think they're called elevators."

Deck Seven. Deck Six. Deck Five. The pirates were a full deck above us, but I wasn't risking it. We needed to get as far away from them as possible.

Deck Four.

"Stop." Finn panted. "Need—to—rest." He gasped. "Finn-" "I know." He said. "We'll run when they get here. For all we know, they might stop at Deck Five." I doubted that, but I needed to rest too.

"Given up, have you?" I heard Smee ask. The pirates had reached us.

Lovely.

I turned to the stairs, but Finn shook his head. He started walking away, towards some bar called Preludes. I followed him, watching the pirates closely. They were talking to each other, discussing whether this sudden change in direction was a trap. We walked down a long hallway, retail stores on either side of us. We reached another staircase, but Finn went outside. I felt nervous about being so close to the water, but followed him anyways.

We passed an old couple playing shuffleboard with Chip and Dale. I'll never understand Disney.

We went inside ten minutes later. In front of us was "Shutters", a shop for buying pictures. Finn just stared ahead. "What are you-" "Shh." I closed my mouth. Something behind us was clicking… was that footsteps?

"Leading us in a wild goose chase, are ye?" Pirate Guy asked us. I stared at him. "We might be leading the hunt, but don't complain because your following." I told him. He narrowed his eyes at me. Suddenly, Smee started running at Finn.

"Aaah!" Finn screamed. He ran into the shop, Smee on his tail. The doors to the shop closed with a click. "You're a pretty little girl." He told me with a smile. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?" I asked him. "'Cause right now, you're really creeping me out." His smile vanished. "I don't like your attitude, little girl." He said. "I'm not a little girl!" I cried at him. "I'm fourteen years old!"

He grabbed his sword and stabbed it at me. I ducked, and missed it. Thank God. I got up again and walked back to the hallway. He swished his sword back and forth. I ran back to the shop and the tip of his blade brush my cheek, cutting my skin and hair. The cut hurt terribly, but I ignored the pain and pushed the door of the shop open. The door wouldn't budge. It was as if someone locked it, but that was ridiculous. Finn and Smee were inside.

Pirate Guy tried to stab me again, but missed and hit the door, shattering the glass. I had to shield my eyes so broken glass wouldn't get in it. I pushed the door open, which was now unlocked.

Inside the shop, Finn and Smee were having a sword fight, except Finn was using a mop instead of a sword. Pirate Guy was entering the shop now, and I knew I had to leave.

"Let's go!" I yelled to Finn. Finn kicked Smee in the shins and ran to the exit opposite from where I entered. As soon as we got out of the shop, Finn threw the mop down and looked at me. "Where were you?" He asked me. "Outside." I explained. "The door was locked for some reason." "How?" He questioned. I shrugged.

We climbed down the stairs to Deck Three. At this point, we weren't trying to get away from the pirates, but just wandering around aimlessly. "The Lobby is pretty." I mumbled. "Where does that lead?" I asked Finn, pointing to a large metal door. "That's where you get off the ship." He explained. I peered through the door. "Well, I'm going to leave." I told him. "All this running around is making me nauseous." "You can't get off." He said. "We're at sea."

"No, we're not." I responded. And I was right. Because when I enter the embarking/disembarking area, it was clear that the ship was docked. I walked down the metal railway to the island.

"Holly! Stop it!" Finn said. "Why?" I asked. "Don't you think something is fishy about this?" He asked me. "No" was my answer. "Holly, it's not physically possible for the ship to be here already!" He argued. "Who said it had to be physically possible?" I asked him. "It's here by magic. Whenever something goes wrong, blame it on magic." I reasoned. My feet touched the dock, and I noticed for the first time that I wasn't wearing any shoes. Finn and I looked up at a sign in front of us, which read:

WELCOME TO CASTAWAY CAY

* * *

**Author's Note: I know, it's weird that this is the only chapter in 1st person, but it was a lot easier to write this way. I haven't decided whether or not the next chapters will be in 1st or 3rd person. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! The last chapter kind of sucked, so I don't blame you for not reviewing. However, I think this one is much better, so can you review? Please?**


	11. Too Freaky For Words

**Part Two: The Cursed Cay**

Chapter Eleven: Too Freaky For Words

* * *

In a way, Castaway Cay looked just like any other island in Bahamas—sandy beach, green palm trees, blue-green ocean. Normally I would have paid more attention to the beauty of it, but I couldn't help but feel as if something was wrong.

Next to where the boat was docked was a long strip of sand and ocean. You had to walk down the strip to get to the main part of the island, where all of the activities were.

Finn and I walked in silence through the sand, and I was glad that I was barefoot. I had gone to the beach enough (in both France and Florida) to know how uncomfortable it felt to have sand stuck in your shoes. We were alone on the beach, and it struck me as ominous that no one else from the ship had left. True, they hadn't announced their arrival yet, but surely someone would have seen that the boat was docked, right? Finn was thinking the same thing.

"Quiet here." He commented, looking around with narrowed eyes. "Nothing's going to jump out at you." I said, staring at him. "This is Disney, not Halloween Horror Nights." "I know." He said. "But it's always quiet and empty when the Overtakers are about to attack us."

"Not on the boat." I corrected. "There were tons of people there." "Yeah…" He said slowly. "It's weird. That usually doesn't happen." "Maybe they did that on purpose." I offered. "You know, so it's harder for us to defend ourselves. The people watching thought it was some type of afternoon entertainment."

"I think we're safe here." I told him. "At least until we reach the main beaches. I think the Overtakers would want somewhere that's easier to hide in." Finn nodded.

More walking. Seriously, how big is this island?

We reached the main part of the island, where again, it was empty. Only here, it was also empty in terms of objects and buildings. It hadn't surprised me that there was much where the boat was docked, but this part should be packed. Think about it:

Disney + Caribbean = Claustrophobe's Worst Nightmare

In front of me were tropical plants, mainly trees. I felt my back warm up as the Sun came out of the clouds. Something glinted behind the foliage. I stepped closer, and the shine came back. I navigated my way through the plants. I looked over my shoulder to see if Finn was behind me, but I didn't see him. I reached a part with less vegetation, and frowned.

In front of me was—well, me. I was looking at a mirror image of myself standing in a tropical forest, looking as if I had never taken a bath in my life. But before I could figure out what I was seeing, there was a flash of light and the image was gone. Plants and dirt surrounded me once again.

"Something isn't right here," I muttered to myself. I took a step forward and tripped over a large root.

It was the oddest sensation. I felt as if I had fallen into a tub of cold water. Something seemed to be pushing me forward, and I couldn't tell where I was. Blackness replaced the island and I seemed to be floating. I shut my eyes.

The pushing stopped and I felt my palms and legs touch the ground. I opened my eyes to see that I was in some type of town. The ground was paved, but had large cracks where weeds had sprung up. The buildings were huge and bright, but looked as if a madman had designed them. Some of them were shaped similar to the ones in the Starry Night painting. They had checkerboard patterns on them, and had traces of ash—as if there had been a fire recently. Gone were the palm trees, and in their place were large, multicolored mushrooms. The sky was dark and cloudy. It was probably going to rain soon.

I was in a busy street. The buildings around me—post office, bank, cinema, and grocery store—had a constant flow of people walking in and out. Despite the weird appearance of the town, the people were dressed normally, just as most people dressed on vacation. However, none of the people I saw seemed to know where they were going. They just wandered around aimlessly, not talking to anyone or looking at anything. Their faces were expressionless, just staring blankly in front of them. Something about it creeped me out.

I got up and tapped on the back of one of the guests. "Excuse me?" I asked them. They continued walking away from me. I turned to a young girl. "Excuse me, but do you know where I am?" I asked her as politely as I could. She continued to stare ahead, but slowly pointed up at the red balloon in her hand. I squinted at it, trying to read the words printed on it.

Welcome to Dystopiania!

On the balloon was a drawing of Maleficent, or as I preferred to call her, Demon Elphaba Lady, grinning evilly with a black and purple castle behind her. Looking over the Post Office, I could see the actual castle in the distance.

I paced back and forth on the street, trying not to freak out too much. Where was I? How did I get here? What was up with these guests, and what did Demon Elphaba Lady have to do with it?

I entered the cinema, not knowing what else to do. Hopefully a movie would stop me from worrying for a while.

The cinema was small, and only had one theatre. The front door closed behind me when I entered it. After seeing the rest of the town, the Lobby was a bit of a shock to my system.

Sure, it had the same color scheme—checkerboard in wild colors—and it was packed, but the people here acted different from the ones I had seen on the street. They were filled with life, chatting loudly to each other. There were couples flirting with each other, brothers and sisters arguing, and parents using all of their power to embarrass their kid.

On the middle of the wall across from me, a desk for buying tickets was situated. Selling the tickets was the green alligator from _Princess and the Frog_. The guests didn't appear bothered or confused by the fact they were buying tickets from an animal, but I was. The alligator didn't look like the dressed up cast members that worked at Disney World. It didn't look like a real alligator, though; it somehow managed to contain both a realistic and cartoon-ish look.

On the walls were framed posters of classic Disney movies. The posters were different from what I remembered, however: In the _Lion King_, Scar was roaring on a large rock, while the hyenas laughed behind him. Simba was cowering in the corner, looking scared and helpless. In the _Little Mermaid_, Ariel was trapped in Ursula's liar. For _The Three Caballeros_, there was a hole where Donald Duck used to be.

"Mommy, I'm tired of waiting!" I heard a little girl complain. The mother sighed. "Fine, we can go here later." She said. Holding her daughter's hand, she tried to leave the room, but I saw two ushers (red and black aces from _Alice in Wonderland_) stop her. "No one is leaving here until they've seen the movie, Miss." One of them told her. The woman, looking annoyed, opened her mouth to speak. However, the black theatre doors had opened, and people rushed in.

I hung back in the crowd and waited for everyone to get in. I took a seat in the back of the theatre. As soon as the doors closed and the guests stopped talking, the film came on. On the screen were the words: A True, Unbiased History of Disney World.

There was a clip of Mickey Mouse as Steamboat Willie. A deep voice began narrating.

"_For over fifty years, loyal guests have visited the Disney World Parks all over the world. Mickey Mouse, previously known as Steamboat Willie, had been seen as the ruler of this world."_

What was he talking about? There wasn't a "ruler" of Disney World. Yes, Mickey sort of dominates the place, but it's not like he's king.

"_But unbeknownst to most, there was another before Mickey."_

Oswald, wasn't it? But what did that have to do with anything?

"_Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Nowadays, you don't hear about Oswald, or most Disney characters. Disney has fifty animated films, and plenty of characters in each film. Unfortunately, these characters are thrown to the side, and are out-shined by the leading princess and prince."_

Okay, I admit it. I feel kind of bad for the other characters. But why were they forcing guests to watch a film about it?

"_You have been led to believe that these are the 'good' characters. The characters you want to root for, the ones you want to live happily ever after. But you have been horribly misinformed."_

Misinformed? What did that mean?

Glancing around the room, I started to see a change in the audience's behavior. Guests stopped fidgeting, whispering, and checking their phone. They stared blankly at the screen, just like the people outside. What was going on? Did their behavior have anything to do with the movie? And if so, how?

"_This characters are merely power-hungry villains. They try to put themselves in a better light; instead making the other characters look evil and cruel. But people deserve better. They deserve to know the truth about these people, no matter how horrible it truly is."_

I stopped listening. I sneaked out of the theatre and into the Lobby.

"Did someone leave?" I heard a voice ask. I hid behind a poster for custom-made hats. Peaking out, I saw the two Ace Ushers.

"Don't see anyone." The black one said. "The alarms would have gone off if they had." "But what if they're a Supernatural?" Red Ace asked. "Would they be able to leave?" Black Ace shook his head. "No, but the movie wouldn't affect them." He said. "Miss Alice still hasn't figured out how to work the spell on them."

"But what if they come here?" Red Ace asked, sounding worried. "Nonsense." Black Ace replied. "There's only one we need to worry about, and Miss Alice said she's taken care of it." "Who?" Red Ace asked.

"Some witch." Black Ace answered. "Her name's Halley, or something."

I covered my mouth. "Miss Alice" must have been the one to put me in that pool.

The doors opened and guest came out, now completely unanimated. I stayed behind the poster. After they left, the Aces continued their conversation.

"There's nothing to worry about." Black Ace assured. Red Ace nodded. "You're right." He said. After a pause, he asked, "Are anymore coming?" Black Ace shook his head. "No, the Wonder just left."

I stepped out from behind the poster. "Excuse me," I said, trying to look like an innocent little girl. "Where's the bathroom?" The Aces pointed it out to me, and I ran inside.

Once the door was locked, I started pacing again, thinking hard about what I had heard.

The Disney Villains (along with a few non-villains) were brainwashing guests into hating the good characters. They made them lifeless like robots. I hadn't been affected, since I was a witch. However, I had to watch since they didn't know I was here.

So that was the Overtakers' plan. Turn guests into evil-loving zombies to take control of the park. Then when they could, take over the world.

The good characters weren't the ones who were power-hungry. The bad ones were. But who exactly were the "bad" ones? As cheesy as it sounded, good characters were turning to the dark side. And to more supports the Overtakers had, the less chance the Kingdom Keepers had of saving the park.

How was it possible for them to do this? I remembered what I had told Finn what seemed like hours ago:

"_When something goes wrong, blame it on magic."_

As a witch, I loved magic. But not when it was being used against me.

I flushed the toilet and ran out of the cinema. I looked around franticly. Where was the front of the island?

"Holly!"

I turned around and ran to the voice. Finn.

"Holly, where are we?" Finn asked me. "Dystopiania." I answered. "God bless you." He said. "I didn't sneeze, that's what this place is called!" I told him almost angrily. "What happened to Castaway Cay?" He asked.

Finn looked around at the guests. "Hey, do you think any of them are from the Wonder?" He asked me. Then I remembered what the Black Ace had said.

"Finn, we need to get out of here. _Now_."

The Disney Wonder had left Castaway Cay.

Finn and I were trapped on an island of evil Disney villains and brainwashed vacationers with no way to get off.

* * *

**Author's Note: Yes! Finally! I've finished Chapter Eleven! So as you might have noticed, we have now entered the second half of the story, also known as "The Cursed Cay." There is going to be a lot more action in this part of the story. I don't know how many chapters will be in Part Two. It depends on how long each of the chapters are. Since I'm now writing in first person, I can't switch back and forth from different people. Holly and Finn will be together in the chapters. Philby, Willa, Charlene, and Maybeck will be together. There will be more of the Charlene/Maybeck romance, since Rachel reminded me that I've sort of abandoned that plot line. Next chapter will be about the second group of people, and will probably be from the point of view of either Philby or Willa. Well, that's all for now.**

**-HollytheKitty**


	12. Where is he?

Chapter Twelve: Where is he?

**Author's Note: Finally! I finished the chapter! Sorry, but I've been sick since Saturday, so the time I usually spend writing at night I'm using to catch up on my sleep. I may or may not post another chapter this weekend, I'm not sure. The last quarter of the school year has started, so I'm really busy between school and confirmation and dance. I'm really glad I decided not to be in the spring play (we're doing Bye Bye Birdy). Anyway, on with the chapter!

* * *

**

Maybeck and I walked around the perimeter of the boat for third time.

"Don't you ever get tired of walking?" Maybeck asked me. I shrugged in response. It was just what I did when I was nervous or anxious. I checked the messages on phone, but they hadn't changed since I had checked them ten minutes earlier. Just the same thing over and over:

_We'll find him. Don't worry. Be patient._

Ha! As if I could be patient at a time like this. Finn had disappeared, the boat was swimming in circles, and everywhere I went crewmembers would stare at me with menacing eyes. Why? I'm not sure. But I know it's bad, and that's all I care about.

Finn had disappeared about two hours ago. He said he wanted to check something out, and none of us had seen him since. We asked a few guests about him—he was pretty recognizable, and he would not have gone unnoticed on a ship that was celebrating the DHIs. Many had seen him, but their stories were confusing.

Pirates, a pool, and a girl with gold eyes—that's all they would say.

So I worry. I'm afraid the Overtakers have captured him, and are after us now. I'm worried about Holly. She was the girl with gold eyes, that was certain. But had she been here the whole time? How had she met Finn? The more I ponder the what ifs, the more I'm driven insane.

"Should we head back?" I ask after a few more minutes walking in silence. Philby and Willa had set up on the ship's library, trying to figure out what was going on. Maybeck doesn't look at me, instead just nods in reply. He doesn't look happy to go back, and neither am I. It was nice to hang out just the two of us, and not have to think about the Kingdom Keepers. Don't get me wrong—I love being a Keeper. It just takes up so much of your time, and it's hard to have a personal life outside of it. Since we kissed, Maybeck and I haven't had a proper conversation together that didn't pertain to the Keepers. It was always making plans, running away from something, and thinking you had finally figured something out, that something had finally made sense for once, just to discover you'd been wrong the whole time.

Sometimes I just wished my life were normal again.

The two of us entered the library. Philby was pretty easy to find, since his hair looked as if it was on fire. With a colossal yawn, Willa waved to us and motioned for us to sit down.

"Tired?" I asked her. She nodded.

"I woke up at four in the morning. What you think?" Willa replied with slight attitude. I still have to remind myself that it's still Day One of the cruise. Not only that, but it's two in the afternoon. It feels like it's been an entire week since we embarked on the Wonder, but in reality, it's only been a few hours.

Time is a very odd thing.

Rubbing her eyes, Willa hands me a sheet of paper. Printed on it is a map of Deck Nine of the ship, with certain things highlighted. I stare at it uncomprehendingly for a moment before looking back up at her.

"Care to explain?" I ask.

"It's what we—well, I—think happened earlier today when Finn disappeared. Based on what I heard, he started out here," Willa pointed to a rectangle labeled **Goofy's Pool**. "And ran into a couple pirates. The girl was with him. Then they went down a few floors, and were last seen here." Willa handed me another paper, this one a map of Deck Two. She pointed to a shop labeled **Shutters**.

"And then what?" I asked, though I knew it was pointless. If Willa had known what went next, she would have told me. Willa didn't respond, and seemed very interested in something Philby was doing on his computer. At first, I thought she was either ignoring me or flirting with Philby (What? They make a cute couple.), but her expression became very alert, and I realized that whatever she was looking at must be important.

"Something wrong?" Maybeck asked, having caught on to the odd behavior as well. Philby looked up from the screen.

"On the Cruise Line website, there are videos and maps of each ship's path as it sails through the Caribbean." Philby explained.

"So?" Maybeck asked confused.

"So, look at the Wonder's path." Philby told us as he turned the laptop towards us. Maybeck and I leaned in to see it. On the screen was a map of South Florida and the Caribbean. A red line connected dots showing the ship's location each hour. Typed in a blue box next to the map the locations and times were written out. I read it quietly to myself.

4 A.M. Cape Canaveral

5 A.M. Error—location not found

6 A.M. Error—location not found

7 A.M. Error—location not found

8 A.M. Castaway Cay

9 A.M. Castaway Cay

10 A.M. Error—location not found

11 A.M. Castaway Cay

12 P.M. Castaway Cay

1 P.M. Error—location not found

2 P.M. Pending…

"Weird." I muttered. What was with all the errors?

"Yeah." Willa agreed. "Most of the time no one knows where we are, and the ship randomly appears at an island too far away to have been reached by sea yet."

"Well, maybe there's something wrong with the site." Maybeck suggested. "Obviously, we're not at the cay yet, so maybe whatever device they use to track the ships is screwed up. How do they track them, anyway?" Everyone looked at Philby, who put his hands up in surrender.

"I'm looking, I'm looking!" He exclaimed. I refreshed the screen, but none of the locations changed. It made no sense. Was that the real locations, no matter how impossible? Or was it messed up? And we still had no idea where Finn was…

"Finn!" I exclaimed, finally realizing something. Willa looked puzzled.

"You think Finn caused this?" She asked me. I shook my head. It was so simple, so obvious, why didn't they get it?

"No, I figured out where he is!" I explained. "He's at Castaway Cay!" It made sense to me, so why did Philby look so skeptical?

"Charlene, how could he be there?" Philby asked me. "He's probably on the boat somewhere—"

"No, he's not!" I interrupted. "Think about it—the boat was at the cay at twelve, right? He was last seen two hours ago—at twelve o'clock!" I argued. "He's probably there right now, and that why we can't find him. The boat's probably been circling the island all day."

"But you're forgetting something." Philby told me. "There's no way the boat could have gone there in only four hours. It just isn't possible, Charlie."

"Isn't possible?" I asked him. "A lot of people would say going to sleep at night and waking up as a hologram isn't possible. They would say that animated characters coming to life isn't possible. But it _is_."

"But the holograms, that's technology." Philby argued. "It's confusing, but it can be explained. As for the characters, that's more—"

"Magic?" Willa offered, joining in. "What if this is magic, too? Obviously, whoever's supposed to be steering the boat isn't. What if the Overtakers are controlling it? Magic, the Overtakers—wouldn't that be enough to mess up the website?" Willa asked.

"Fine." Philby gave in. "Maybe Finn's on the island. Maybe your sister is, too." He suggested, looking at me. "But how would he get back to the boat? I mean, he'd be stuck there, wouldn't he?" Willa and I exchanged glances. If we were right (and I think we are!), then we would have to get the boat back to Castaway Cay somehow.

"Well, before we freak out, let's make sure he's there, okay?" Maybeck asked. I nodded. "I doubt we can do anything now, so let's talk tomorrow."

Tomorrow? I can't wait until tomorrow! What if Holly's there? What is she going to do? Maybeck must have sensed my panic, because he told me,

"Just relax. Take a nap, or something." I nodded, and made my way to my stateroom.

Back in my room, I plopped on my bed. I closed my eyes, trying to sleep. But I could feel something by my shoulder. I opened my eyes and sat up, looking on the bed. Placed on the middle of the sheets was a large yellow envelope. Written neatly on the envelope were the words: _To C. Turner. Hope this helps_.

Intrigued, I opened the envelope and shook out the contents onto my bed. Three pieces of paper fell out. Two of them had been written on in messy handwriting (different from the words on the envelope) and looked as if they had been torn out of a notebook. The third was small and rectangle-shaped. It was faced down so I couldn't see what was on it. I picked up one of the notebook papers and read it.

_Eilonwy—_

_Make sure the five get to the island. DO NOT let HNT find them. Gain control of the W, and then report back. Don't mess this up._

The letter wasn't signed. But what did it mean? The "five" was the Keepers, and HNT was Holly's initials. But what was 'the W'? The west? That didn't make sense.

The Wonder?

But what if an Overtaker wrote this? That would mean they were planning to take control of the boat, and that would not be good. And why would they want us on the island? Was it a trap? If it was, Finn and Holly are in trouble.

I picked up the other notebook paper.

_Eilonwy—_

_Good job getting to the controls. Is it wise to let Oswald in charge? Get to the island immediately. HNT is here, as well as that other boy. I don't know where they are, but we need to find them. Get the others to the island. As long as HNT is out of the way, we may finally finish those brats._

I shivered. Well, Finn and Holly were definitely at Castaway Cay. I needed to get back to Maybeck, Philby, and Willa. I put the papers back in the envelope. I saw the third paper and turned it over. It was a photograph from a Polaroid camera with today's date on it.

In the photograph, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was running in the helm of the ship. Behind him was the steering wheel of the ship, which was currently unoccupied.

Well, that explains why we're going in circles.

I need to find Philby.

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**Author's Note: Read! Review! Um... please?**

**Is this chapter so ninja? Can a chapter be ninja? (Don't worry if you don't get it.)**

**~HtK**


	13. Every Story Needs an Epic Jet Ski Fight

Chapter Thirteen: Every Story Needs an Epic Jet Ski Fight

**Author's Note: FINALLY! This chapter took me almost two hours to write! Why, I don't know.**

**To answer some of your questions, yes, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was either lost and bought by someone else. However, in 2006 WDC won the rights to him again. That's why they were able to create _Epic Mickey._**

**Warning: There is an awful lot of yelling in this chapter**

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"Time to wake up, Sleeping Beauty."

Finn cringed. Why? I hate waking up early in the morning too, but something about his reaction didn't seem right to me. Then again, didn't he mention something about Maleficent?

"So, did you cross over last night?" I asked, staring at the empty street. We were the same place as yesterday, the same street in this freaky 'Distopiania' place. Finn was lying down on a bench by the supermarket, while I stood in front of him, wishing he would get to the point and wake up. I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

"No." Finn said. "I guess Wayne must have stopped us. I wonder if he knows what's going on."

"Doubt it." I commented. "How would he? None us know how to contact him, and everyone else on the ship thinks everything's fine."

Finn sat up and looked around the street.

"Where'd all those people go?" He asked me. Or, maybe it was a rhetorical question. After all, how would I know? I shrugged in response.

"Does it really matter? Let's just go! There has to be an exit around here somewhere." I said. Finn looked at me as if I were from another planet. Why do people always do that? Yes, I know I'm a total freak; don't people have the decency to at least pretend I'm normal?

"Holly, what about everyone else?" Finn asked.

"What about everyone else?" I asked in return, walking towards the end of the street.

"You said they were brainwashed. We can't just leave them here." Finn said. I turned around and looked at him incredulously.

"Of course we can! They're just going to hold us back, and we've only got today and _three more days_ to get back on the ship and back to Florida." I answered, raising my voice.

"But it's not fair—"

"Life's not fair!" I argued. "These are random people, not anyone we know. They wouldn't do the same for us, so why bother?"

"But we have to—" Finn started, but I cut him off again.

"Look, I know your type. You're the one who's always playing hero, always trying to save everyone. I hate to break it to you, but not everyone can be saved. So why bother?" I asked him. "You think that being nice and doing good things will help you in life, but it won't. People don't care about others. Not nowadays, at least. Now they label you and analyze you, thinking they know everything about you just from how you look. They think anyone and everyone who isn't a carbon copy of them and their stupid posse is a freak, and needs to be ostracized and bullied for it. The people here, brainwashed or otherwise, don't care about you. We don't have time to bother with them, and even if we did, there's no point. People have a habit of stabbing in the back the ones that trust them the most."

Finn stared at me, mouth open wide, for what felt live an eternity (but was probably only a minute or two). Then, he replied.

"I don't know what happened to make you feel that way, but I'm going to figure out how to stop this. If you don't want to, then you can find a way out of here by yourself."

He walked away, past the cinema, onto a dirt path through the trees that I hadn't seen before. I watched him go, farther and farther away, until he was a speck the size of an ant. I sighed, cursing at myself.

_God, Holly, why did you have to say that? Stop complaining about being alone if you're just going to scare everyone off._

I wiped my eyes and looked at the clock nearby. It was only six in the morning; I didn't need to leave just yet. I lay down on the bench and closed my eyes. I had been restless all night, and hadn't gotten any sleep. I quickly drifted off, into dreams about toy soldiers, snow globes and blue birds…

I screamed at the top of my lungs, my feet pounding on the brick path bellow me. It was truly amazing how all of this was set up, having not just towns, but a large city all within the island somehow. There had been small apartments set up for the (basically) imprisoned guests, which they stayed in for an exact amount of time each night, before going out and working on the quickly forming world. The adults built, and the teenagers arranged the furniture and other aesthetics, while the younger children went to "school", where they were taught lies about the world. It was horrible, yet miraculous, but running for my life didn't give me much time to dwell on that.

I had been running from them for thirty minutes straight, ever since they woke me up at nine and realized I who I was. It turns out that "Miss Alice" had been on the lookout for me, ever since those idiot pirates told her I was out of my hiding place. I was glad to be out of there, but why did I have to run so much?

There were five of them total: three giant blue birds, one snowman, and one toy soldier. They were all from Pixar shorts, the ones shown in a theater right before a feature film. Guess they were feeling left out as well.

From what I heard, the birds would supervise the guests' work, while the other two guided any new guests. However, no new people seemed to be coming. Whoever had let us got off (though they obviously hadn't meant to) wasn't steering the ship anymore. Oswald (some cartoon character from the 1920s that WDC recently got the rights back from) was the captain now, and apparently, no one had taught him how to dock. Go figure.

Anyway, the birds had stayed in their little town center, but Snowdude and Crash-Symbols Man decided to chase me. Where to, I don't know.

_CRASH! CRASH!_

"Will you stop that?" I yelled back at Crash-Symbols Man. Since they hadn't been given voices in their shorts, they couldn't speak. So instead of yelling at me, the Tin Toy crash his symbols, banged his drum, and played his accordion every five seconds. It was annoying, but I guess that was the point.

After a few more minutes—I had stopped screaming at this point, so I wouldn't lose my voice—the brick path ended to form a roundabout. I ran straight forward, dodging the mindless drones in my way. In front of me was a road, with a warning sign near it that read: DO NOT CROSS WITHOUT PERMISSION. I ignored it, and started running on the road. It was tiled with hard, jet-black stones—either marble or granite—and led towards a black and purple castle in the distance.

"Hey! You can't go there!" A man's voice bellowed at me. I stopped in my tracks and stared at the brainwashed person. So they were capable of speaking? I needed to tell Finn that, if I ever saw him on the island again. I looked at Snowdude and Crash-Symbols Man, who seemed to be in deep conversation. Seeing as they couldn't talk, Snowdude mimed stuff and Crash-Symbols Man beat his drum. I guess they were debating whether or not to follow me. It seems that people really took the 'you must have permission' warnings seriously. I walked along the black road, wondering what happened to the people that didn't follow the rules.

The castle was beautiful. It had a Victorian feel to it, except that all but the windows and doors were made of large black and Tyrian purple crystals. It wasn't incredibly large, probably about the size of the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland. It was surrounded by a moat of dark green water. The moat was huge compared the building in the middle of it, and would take awhile to cross, even by a boat. There was no dock by the road or the entrance to the Castle; the only way to enter the building was to climb the steps in front of it.

I squinted at two cerulean two-person jet skis that someone had put by lake. That must be how people get into the castle. A brunette teenager was examining the jet skis. I panicked, thinking it was another Overtaker. Thankfully, that wasn't the case.

"Finn!"

Finn looked at me.

"When did you get here?" He asked in surprise.

"Not pleased to see me?" I asked him. "Well, get over it, because I'm coming with you."

"You are?" He asked quizzically. I nodded.

"It's better if we stay together. Plus, we've got three days; we can figure out how to turn the other people back to normal."

"Oh, really?" He responded skeptically. "And you don't think they're going to— what did you call it? —'stab you in the back'?" I frowned.

"Look, I was in a bad mood this morning. I hadn't gotten any sleep last night and it made me cranky. People at school are really mean to me, and it just reminded me of that for some reason." I explained.

"Well, I know how it feels to be bullied." Finn told me. "Do need to rest?" He asked as an afterthought. I shook my head.

"Nah, I'm fine. I napped for about three hours after you left. Would've been longer if the Pixar brigade hadn't woken me up and started chasing me." I replied slightly irritated.

"Who?"

"Oh, these characters from some of the Pixar shorts." I answered. "You know, _Knick Knacks_ and _Tin Toy_. Pretty obnoxious, to be honest."

"Are they still following you?" Finn asked in concern.

As if to answer, there was a loud crash behind us. It seemed Snowdude and Crash-Symbols Man had after all.

"Quick!" Finn told me. He picked up and carried one of the jet skis into the water. He climbed on it and looked at me anxiously.

"Come on!"

"No way."

"Get on! Now!"

The Pixar characters were getting closer.

"Look, if one of the jet skis is turned on, the other one is also. If one is turned off, so is the second." Finn explained hurriedly.

"So?"

"So, if we use this, the other one will start working. This will make it easy for them to follow us."

"_So?"_

"If we get to the Castle first, we'll have to turn off the Jet Ski, leaving them stranded in the middle of the lake. But if _they_ get there first—"

"—We'll be stranded. Got it."

I looked at the OTs, who were only a few feet away. I needed to get on, but I was scared. What if I fell in? I hadn't swum in years.

"_Holly!"_

I climbed onto the Jet Ski, wrapped my arms tightly around Finn's waist (something that made me feel incredibly awkward), fully aware of how stupid of an idea it was.

The Jet Ski roared to life, zooming through the water quickly and hectically. Water towered over us on both sides, splashing me in the face, making it hard to see. I tighten me grip on Finn, afraid that if I didn't, I would fall into the water and be left to drown.

I heard a faint drum beat behind me. Cautiously, I turned my head around and saw the Pixar Brigade climb onto their Jet Ski. They did it rather awkwardly, since the Tin Toy was large and the Jet Ski was already moving. The Snowman hit a button and both of our jet skis stopped.

"What happened?" Finn asked.

"They turned it off." I answered, but by the time I had finished, the Jet Ski had started again. We continued to gain speed, and the Pixar Brigade was far behind us. It looked like the odds were finally in my favor.

That is, until someone started throwing sticks at me.

One of the Pixar characters—which one, I don't know—had gotten sea plants from the lake and were throwing them in my hair. I turned my head to see which one it was, but this ended up being a bad idea, since I got seaweed covering my eyes. I shook my head violently in attempt to get it off me. I was still afraid to let go.

Since that (obviously) wasn't working, I carefully pried my hands from Finn's waist and grabbed the plants. I yanked them off my face and threw them into the water. One piece of seaweed got stuck on my hand, and I shook it off, involuntarily leaning towards the water. The Jet Ski hit something—a rock, I presume—and Finn and jumped up from our seats.

I plunged, head first, into the water.

Under water, I flailed my arms and legs in a pathetic attempt at the Doggie Paddle. I did manage to get my head above the water, however. The Pixar Brigade was nearing towards me, the Snowdude's hand extended to his side. Finn, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen.

I was stuck in a lake and didn't know how to swim. The Overtakers were getting closer by the second. They would capture me, and bring me back to Alice. I don't know what she'd do to me, but it wouldn't be pretty. Finn was too late; he wouldn't be able to save me now. But was he even looking for me? Had he even noticed I was gone?

The Pixar Brigade was closer…

Closer…

Almost there…

_Fwonk!_

The Jet Ski jerked to a stop, the Crash-Symbols Man slamming into Snowdude, his accordion letting out a noise similar to a dying cat.

I felt myself being pulled up. Finn!

I steadied myself on the Jet Ski, and Finn started it again, this time going slowly.

"You okay?" He asked, worried.

"Yeah." I answered. Freaked out? Totally. Soaked? Unfortunately. Okay? Definitely.

I glanced at the Pixar Brigade. They were going incredibly quickly, whereas we were going at a snail speed. They would pass us soon, and either capture us or abandon us in the lake. We had to go faster.

"Finn, speed up."

"No, Holly."

"Finn, you have to!"

"You're not getting thrown off this again."

"I won't! Just hurry up!"

"Holly, are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. _Just go._"

"Holly, are you absolutely certain—"

"JUST GO, YOU IDIOT!"

That did it. Finn speed up, and so did the Pixar Brigade. Finn and I were getting farther and farther away from them, and closer and closer to the Castle. It looked like we actually had a chance again.

Once I felt that we weren't in immediate danger, riding on the Jet Ski was kind of fun. True, the water kind of freaked me out, but it wasn't as bad as falling into the lake. The wind blew my hair out of my face and dried me off a bit.

We stopped the Jet Ski at the Castle's steps and climbed off. For a moment, I felt dizzy and off balance. Thankfully, that didn't last too long.

"What should we do with this?" Finn asked me, motioning to the Jet Ski.

"Leave it. We'll need it to get back." I told him, and he nodded. Looking at the lake behind me, he said,

"I'm glad I'm not them."

I glanced at the Pixar Brigade. The two characters were arguing with each other, and Crash-Symbols Man kept beating the drum and crashing the symbols in Snowdude's face. It was a pretty funny sight.

"Hey, can't they just start the Jet Ski again?" I asked Finn. He nodded.

"Yes, but I don't think they've realized that yet."

"Good." I responded.

And with that, we climbed up the steps to castle ahead.

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**Author's Note: So, this is my favorite chapter so far. What do you think? Reply in a review! I have almost twenty now!**

**Question: Should the next chapter be at Finn & Holly's POV or the others?**


	14. The Result of an Unexpressive Audience

Chapter Fourteen: The Result of an Unexpressive Audience

**Author's Note: I just came back from a french competition, which is why it's been awhile since I updated. I got a Superieur, though. I've finished KK4, and I really liked the very ending. Those who have read can probably figure out why. ;)**

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The stairs were made of smooth, black granite. The place would be beautiful if it wasn't so dark and foreboding.

We reached the wooden Victorian double-doors, whose boarded up windows prevented outsiders from seeing the activity inside. I pressed my ear to the door and listened. Nothing. Pulling back, I looked at Finn.

"Do you think anyone's inside?" I asked.

"Probably." He admitted. "We'll just have to be careful." I nodded, and touched the knocker, gold in the shape of a dragon-like animal. I had attended on knocking it, but to my surprise, the thing came alive and let out a low hiss. I jumped back, nearly falling down the steps.

"_Who are you?"_

A knocker just spoke to me. Why does stuff like this keep happening to me? Better question, why did it seem so normal?

"Can we enter?" I asked it. It made a noise that I think was supposed to be a snort.

"_Think it's so easy? Try again._

_In this world, caution will turn to be your friend."_

"O-okay then." I said, feeling uneasy.

"How are we supposed to get in?" Finn asked the dragon-thing.

"_Rewards will come to those who wait._

_Hasty decisions shall alter your fate._

_Your entrance, my admittance, comes by options of two:_

_Ask for the Queen, by her permission you go_

_Answer my riddle, if it's the answer you know_

_Your choice in the matter decides the outcome for you."_

I turned to Finn.

"What should we do?" I asked him.

"We're not asking for the 'Queen', that's for sure…" He mumbled. "Who is the Queen, anyway? You don't think it's talking about the Queen of Hearts, do you?"

"No way." I replied. "No way would she pick out this color scheme. Plus, from what I gather, these Overtakers are ones that feel neglected. She's way to popular to be associated with this, and definitely not the Queen."

"Should we take the riddle?" He asked.

"Do we have any other choice?" I asked in return. "It shouldn't be to hard."

"You don't know that." He said. "What if we get it wrong?"

"It'll bite our head off." I answered sarcastically. "It's a knocker, for Pete's sake, not a Sphinx!" I heard him mutter something about a "female Maybeck," whatever that meant.

"_Hurry up."_

"'Rewards will come to those who wait.'" I reminded the dragon-thing. "You're a knocker, it's not like you have a hair appointment you're going to miss." To Finn, I said, "I think we should at least hear the riddle." He nodded, so I asked the knocker to say it to us.

"_I am the thing that scholars wonder in awe,_

_I am the thing some think they foresaw_

_Measure me in hands that move,_

_I am the thing you cannot remove_

_Say what I am now, a fruitless thing to arrange,_

_When you utter the answer, I have already changed."_

"Well, if people 'wonder in awe' about it, it's something they don't understand." Finn reasoned. "But aren't there a lot of things people don't understand."

"Maybe it means dreams." I guessed. "It mentions foreseeing, don't people try to predict the future with dreams?" But Finn shook his head.

"But you don't measure dreams with you're hands." Finn pointed out. "You can measure stuff in inches or centimeters… maybe it's talking about distance. That's confusing isn't it?"

"Not really." I responded. "Plus, it doesn't fit the rest." I sighed, and looked up at the sky. It was around noon. "What time is it?" I asked him.

"Eleven hours, twenty minutes, and fifteen seconds." Finn answered, examining his watch.

"Why bother saying the seconds?" I asked. "By the time you finished, it's already changed anyway." Finn stared at me, eyes opened wide.

"That's it!" He exclaimed.

"Er… what's it?" I asked, not comprehending.

"It's time!" Finn explained. The knocker let out another hiss, and the door swung open.

Time. Of course. It was hard to explain, it was measured on a clock with different sized hands, couldn't be removed… I walked through the double doors into the castle.

The inside of the castle was very much like the outside of it: dark and Victorian. Seriously, who was the architect for the place?

A Lilo & Stitch creature ran up to us. It looked like Stitch, but it was hot pink.

"What is your business here?" She (it?) asked us.

"We're here to request a conference with Queen Alice." I improvised. I'm not really sure where the "conference" part came from, but it worked for the creature.

"Queen Alice is not meeting anyone today." She/It responded. "Why do you need her?"

"Er—we need to talk to her about the, um, _plan_." I made up.

"Plan?" The creature asked, interested.

"Yes, the plan." I answered. "The confidential one. I assumed that someone like you, so good at their job—" The creature beamed at me. "—Would have been informed of it, but since you aren't, I'm afraid I can't tell you anything else."

"Yeah." Finn agreed, catching on. "Queen Alice needs to speak with us straight away." The creature nodded.

"If you must." It pointed to a spiral staircase in the middle of the room. "The study is up there. Her Majesty is usually there."

"Thanks for your help." Finn told the creature.

"Yeah." I chimed in. "I'll be sure to tell Her Majesty of what a wonderful job your doing."

We climbed up the spiral staircase—black marble, like the steps—and entered a long hallway.

"That thing never told us which room the study was." I said, frowning. "How're we supposed to know where to go?"

"Uh, maybe because the rooms are labeled." Finn offered, gesturing to a gold plaque on one of the doors that read **STUDY**.

"Oh." I replied, feeling like an idiot. We pushed open the study door and walked in. Unlike everywhere else, the study was bright and colorful. The walls were a white-crème color, trimmed with gold. Three large windows revealed sunlight. There was a light brown wooden desk and chair, and papers littered the carpeted red floor. Compared with the rest of the castle, it was no surprise that Alice like the room.

Closing the door behind him, Finn picked up a piece of paper from the floor.

"'Distopiania'" Finn read aloud. "What's that?"

"It's what they call this place." I explained. "They used Castaway Cay to create their own island."

"And you said the guests that come here are brainwashed into hating the good guys." Finn said. "They have an island as headquarters, plenty of people who will comply to their every wish… they're really trying to capture Disney World."

"I don't know…" I pondered. "If they wanted to capture it, they could've just taken the island and kept it as it was. It would have been much more discreet that way, whereas now it's obvious something's up. Instead, they changed it completely…" I paused. "I don't think they want to control the parks… I think they want to destroy them."

"But why?" Finn asked, sounding and looking worried.

"I think they feel unappreciated." I reasoned. "Disney has so many characters, and they only really give attention to the Princesses and Princes, and the older characters. There are so many of them, they've just banded together."

"Why do they have to destroy this place, though?" Finn wondered. "They can't exist without Disney, without people believing they exist."

"I don't think they're thinking rationally." I said to him. "I have a feeling Elphaba had something to do with this."

"You mean Maleficent?" Finn asked. I shrugged. "She's locked up. We locked her and Chernabog up a few months ago."

"Yeah, but this wasn't created overnight, was it?" I asked. "I think this was planned a long time ago… a rebellion, the good guys joining the bad guys, strengthening them…"

"You're scaring me."

"You don't believe me?" I asked.

"I do." Finn answered. "But it's not a very happy thought. We—the keepers—have dealt with the OTs plenty of times, but it's never been like this. It's always been the villains. The only good guy I've seen was Stitch, and he at least started out bad."

We continued to search the study in silence. I noticed something on the desk, and read it to myself.

_Make sure to prepare the underground. The cells have been created, but make sure that escape is impossible. Make sure to separate the "Keepers." They're trouble enough as it is._

"Finn…"

"What?"

I passed him the paper. "They're creating a prison. They want to lock you guys up."

"Good job, little girl. I hope you don't mind spending time there." A harsh voice said behind me. "We wouldn't want you to feel left out, would we?"

I spun around to see Alice, her nails dug into the creature we had talked to before, with one of the cards behind her, an axe in his hand.

Oh, crap.

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**Author's Note: Did you guys not like the last chapter? I got no reviews for it, and that's the first time that happened for this story...**

**So, um, review? Pretty please?**

**Next chapter is Charlene, Philby, & Others!**


	15. Rabbit's Eye View

Chapter Fifteen: Rabbit's Eye View

**Author's Note: Yay! Chapter fifteen! Spring Break has just started for me, so there will more than likely be another chapter in by the end of the week.**

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Quiet. Everything was silent, and it needed to stay that way. Slowly, slowly, almost there…

"Philby!" Willa whispered, and I jumped.

"What's wrong?" I whispered back, looking around the room. We were just outside the helm, where the ship was being steered. Willa and I were working on gaining control of the ship, and Charlene and Maybeck were distracting the relatives. Holly's absence would go unnoticed, seeing as she was missing to begin with. But Finn's parents would freak if they knew he were gone, and they probably already did. We had worked out strategies and excuses earlier, and now, at five o'clock in the afternoon, our plan was about to be set in motion. Maybeck was the best liar out of the four of us, and he insisted that Charlene and him were in the same group. Something's definitely going on between them, but I, being a teenage boy, didn't really understand. And this left me with Willa, so I'm not about to start complaing…

"Nothing bad," Willa said, and I relaxed. "I was just wondering—what happened to the captain?"

"I dunno." I admitted. I had been thinking the same thing. Him randomly disappearing could lead to nothing good. Also, how were we supposed to steer the ship?

"Ready?" I asked her.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I heard her mumble.

The ship's bridge was my kind of place—eight windows revealed the view from outside, a radar screen, many colorful buttons, and a steering wheel. True, it wasn't the computer lab at school. But it was close enough for me.

"You!"

In front of us, near the wheel was none other than Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

I'll never doubt Charlene again.

"If it isn't the Kingdom Keepers!" Oswald's voice was weird; it sounded like listening to someone on the phone in an area that didn't get good reception. I guess it was because he was created so long ago.

"Er, hello, Oswald." Willa greeted nervously. "So, what are you doing in this part of the ship?"

"I should be asking that to you!" Oswald told her. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Maybe not," I agreed. "But neither are you, so you shouldn't be talking."

"Why are you an Overtaker, Oswald?" Willa asked politely. "I mean, weren't you one of Walt's first characters? Wouldn't you stay good?"

"Why should I?" Oswald asked her bitterly. "They have Mickey for that. Years, decades even, I've remained forgotten, just to be brought back as a villain!"

"Villain?" Willa asked in confusion.

"_Epic Mickey_." I explained. "The new Wii game that just came out."

"Yes." Oswald answered. "Not good enough, I guess. Well, if they portray me as bad, then why shouldn't I be?"

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Willa argued. Oswald rolled his eyes.

"You think that the Overtakers are just the 'evil' people—Jafar, Ursula, Maleficent." Oswald said. "But you're wrong. Some of us—some of the 'good guys'—are tired of being left out. Disney ignored us, and visitors stopped believing in us. Do you know what happens when characters are forgotten?"

"No." I responded. "What?"

"We age. We get older and older, until we eventually die." Oswald explained. "That almost happened to some of the characters from my time, but didn't because of the video game. Our caretakers—"

"The Imagineers?"

"—They realized something was up, so they created that game. They do this occasionally, usually in the form of bad direct-to-video sequels. But they're only delaying the problem. If we, the characters, don't do something about it, we'll be gone within the next five years. Alice is already fifteen! Do you think rabbits live that long?"

Neither Willa nor I spoke. It was unthinkable—Disney characters, dying?

"The attention-hoggers don't have to worry. Millions of kids wish to be just like them everyday. But we're not as fortunate."

"So you're forming a rebellion?" Willa asked quietly.

"Forming?" Oswald asked. "It's already started! We've got control of a ship, control of an island—soon we'll be able to take on some of the parks."

"And the Imagineers don't know what's going on." I said. Wayne certainly didn't know.

"Exactly!" Oswald cried triumphantly. "They won't even know what hit them!"

"But the parks," Willa whispered. "They're your home. How could you just destroy them?"

"They're not my home." Oswald told her. "Has there ever been any mention of me in Magic Kingdom? Epcot? MGM?"

"Actually, it's called Hollywood Studios now—" I corrected, but he cut me off.

"I DON'T CARE!" Oswald shouted, surprising Willa and I. "I don't care about any of this!"

"What about the new characters?" I asked. "They'll never be created if you take down Walt Disney World."

"Exactly!" Oswald said to me. "Then they'll never be forgotten! They'll never have to feel the misery I've gone through since 1928!"

"What happened in 1928?" I asked, curious.

"Mickey Mouse." Oswald answered. "That's what happened."

Even though Oswald was an Overtaker, I felt bad for him. No one liked being overshadowed by someone else.

"I'm really sorry for you, Oswald," Willa said to him. "But that's no excuse. Isn't there any way we could change your mind?"

Oswald shook his head. "It's too late. The damage has already been done."

I sighed, and glanced at the steering wheel. "Do you know how to steer this thing?" I asked him.

"No." Oswald admitted. "But I need to."

"Why?" Willa asked him.

"Miss Alice will have my head if I don't get to Castaway Cay soon. I was supposed to dock there this morning."

By the way he said it, I realized that the worst thing he could do was get on Alice's bad side. What would she do to him? Did I want to know?

"Maybe we could help you." I offered. "We need to get there soon."

"You'd help me?" Oswald asked, surprised. "Aren't we supposed to be enemies?"

"I don't see you as my enemy." Willa said. "Ever heard of alliances?"

And that's how I ended up at the helm, steering a cruise ship with the help of a cartoon character.

**Author's Note: Did you like it? I know I promised Charlene would be in it too, but it didn't work out that way. Next chapter will probably include her, and I think I'll set it the next day. Also, as far as Epic Mickey just coming out, this is set in December of 2010. So I think it's believable that Willa hasn't heard of it yet. Anyway, thatnks for the reviews! I now have 21! Want to make it 25?**


	16. I Have No Words For This

Chapter Sixteen: I Have No Words For This

* * *

I combed my hair with my fingers and sighed. It was little more than a week before Christmas (according to Finn, anyway). I thought about what I would usually do at this time: decorate the tree, be forced by Charlene to go to the malls and buy gifts for everyone, search the Internet for cookie recipes. Not be thrown in a jail cell by characters I didn't even know were real, and sit and watch as Finn failed terribly trying to escape. He turned into his hologram (I'd heard stories about that happening, but hadn't realized it was actually possible), but when he did, the cell became hologram, too, which somehow stopped him from exiting it. When he was back to normal, the bars were solid. I'd tried to melt the bars, but my powers had been considerably weaken ever since we got on the island. It looked like the only way to get out was to have someone else open it for us.

"So," Finn started. "Want to play a game?" I brushed an insect off of the grey dress Alice had given me earlier. I thought this was nice of her, seeing as I'd been wearing the same clothes for weeks now and she was the one putting me in jail in the first place. Still, the dress was very itchy, and looked like a costume from the party scene of the Nutcracker.

"Like what, Truth or Dare?" I asked him.

"Well, I'm not sure how the 'dare' part of that would work out," Finn said. "But yeah, something like that. I mean, it's not like we have anything else to do."

"Fine." I replied. "Okay, what's the craziest thing you've ever done?"

"Hmm…" Finn muttered, thinking. "Well, the fact that I'm still involved with all the Kingdom Keeper stuff is pretty insane."

I laughed. "Good point." I said. "I think going to Hollister on Black Friday is the craziest thing I've done."

"Oh, come on!" Finn said.

"It's true!" I argued. "There are way more people there then the fire safety laws allow, and the lines to the dressing rooms and cashiers are ridiculous."

"Fine." He told me. "Have you gotten in trouble for something you haven't done?"

"Loads of times." I answered. "I got kicked out of my old school for something I wasn't involved in."

"What'd they say you do?" He asked, curious.

"A building on campus burned down." I explained. "I was asleep in my dorm at the time, but everyone still thought I did it."

"Why?" He asked.

"Witches have certain individual powers." I said. I never outright told him I was a witch, but someone had told him beforehand. Charlene, I guess. "I can control the elements—you know, water, fire, wind, lightning? It's a really rare power, and with good cause—if everyone could do that, they'd tear the Earth apart in seconds."

"So they thought you used your powers in your sleep?" He asked, incredulous. "Is that even possible?"

"No."

"Then why—"

"Because they needed a scapegoat!" I exclaimed, annoyed. I didn't like talking about this. "They needed someone to blame, because they were just too proud to admit that someone was idiotic enough to leave a lit candle in an empty building!"

Silence. Then after a moment, Finn told me, "I believe you."

"Thanks." I muttered. "So, what about you?"

"Huh?" Finn asked, before realizing what I was talking about. "Uh, well for awhile my parents were convinced I was—"

Footsteps. Someone was coming here.

I saw someone climb down the rope latter hanging from the ceiling. A teenage girl.

"Willa!" Finn exclaimed.

"Hey." She greeted, and then looked at me. "You're Holly Noel, right?" She asked.

I nodded. "You don't have to include my middle name." I said to her. Before she could respond, someone else entered.

"I was wondering where you went." Willa commented to the redhead guy. "This is Philby." She introduced. I waved at him.

"Hey, is there any chance you guys have the key?" I asked them. "I, for one, don't like hanging out in jail cells." Philby nodded.

"Oswald is getting it from Elionwy right now." He said.

"Oswald?" I asked. "He was supposed to make sure I didn't get away from the Overtakers when they first captured me. He didn't try very hard."

"He's on our side." Willa told us. "So are some other Overtakers. They're getting fed up with Alice, and they're doubting her plan."

"What _is_ her plan?" I asked. Her motives had been pretty confusing. "I mean, I thought the Overtakers wanted control of Disney World."

"The original ones did." Philby said. "But these ones—the good characters—are trying to destroy it."

"Great." Finn commented sarcastically. "How are we supposed to stop this?"

Willa and Philby just shrugged at him. "I guess we'll have to figure that out later." I said. I hear a clank, and keys dropped from the ceiling.

"Come on." Willa said, picking up the keys and helping Finn and I out of our cells.

I had assumed we were still in the castle when they brought us here, but it turned out that the jail was right bellow the beach where the ship was docked. Outside, crewmembers were preparing to let people off the ship. By the looks of it, it was daybreak, around five or six.

The four of us walked towards the dock, where Charlene and some other boy (Maybeck?) were standing. And holding hands. Interesting…

"Oswald said he's going bring some other characters." Charlene told us when we reached them. "Do guys have a plan?"

The six of us exchanged glances. As if to say, _No, we don't, but we're going to do this anyway._

* * *

**Author's Note: So, this was kind of a filler chapter, not to mention it's either the second or third shortest one. But there's major action coming up. I've decided this fic will be about 19-21 chapters total. I really want to get 30 reviews by the time I finish this. That's eight reviews for 3-5 chapters. Think we can do it? Leave a review!**

**EDIT:**

**Epic Mickey- Yeah, he's not evil, but he's really bitter (at least in the beginning). I think he just interpreted him as being evil, even though the creators of the game didn't mean that.**


	17. The Plot Bunnies Have Returned

Chapter Seventeen: The Plot Bunnies Have Returned

* * *

Philby ran around the grocery store, Holly not far behind him. He sped through an alleyway that, according to Holly, hadn't existed until a few hours prior. The buildings here looked much more normal, more like how the island looked before the Overtakers had come. He took this as a good sign; a way of showing that the Overtakers' control was slipping. Still, there was a lot that needed to be done before they could leave the island, such as turning the imprisoned guests back to normal. That's what the two the two of them were working on now, racing around the streets. Philby and Holly had managed to trap about thirty of them in the cinema. It hadn't been very hard; the guests would do whatever they were told to, regardless of who said the commands. It had been a modest success for the two of them. They had been close to convincing ten more guests, but had been spotted by some of the Overtakers in charge of them.

He looked behind—some old, black-and-white character was tugging at the skirt of Holly's dress. The character must've been created before films had sound, because it kept opening and closing its mouth, but remained silent. Philby grabbed Holly's hand and yanked her away.

"In here!" He yelled, gesturing towards the bank. The two of them ran inside and blocked the door.

"So…much…running…" Holly panted. "Seriously, I should have killer thighs after this." But Philby wasn't listening.

"What is this place?" He whispered, looking around the room. The "bank" wasn't a bank at all. At least, not for money. The stacks of locked metal cabinets built into the walls glinted in the harsh lighting. The wood and granite counters were empty, as if everyone in the room had suddenly vanished. A black laptop was sitting on a desk charging.

"What's this?" Holly asked, picking up a USB next to the laptop.

"Just leave it." Philby said. "Something about this place doesn't seem right to me…" Philby turned his back to her, and Holly put it in her pocket.

"Doesn't hurt to look around." Holly said.

"Actually, it might." Philby muttered darkly. "You don't get it, Holly. Whenever we tried to investigate somewhere in the parks, the Overtakers would turn it into a trap. They were always two steps ahead of us, always figuring out our plans." He glanced at the door. "We can't stay here long. It isn't safe."

"Isn't that a bit melodramatic?" Holly asked. "Look, we're not in the parks. These people, they're a different kind of Overtakers. They have different tactics, different ideas on how to bring us down." She opened one of the cabinets. "I don't think they were supposed to leave here, which means they'll be back soon."

"Fine." Philby gave in. He blinked. "Where'd the USB go?"

"What USB?" Holly asked innocently.

"Never mind." Philby said, opening a cabinet. "Empty." He told Holly "Have any of these been used?"

"I'm sure one of them have." Holly replied. "Just look for one that's locked…" Ten minutes later, they found what they were looking for: one cabinet, looking slightly darker then the ones around it, was locked with the key still in it. "Not big on security, are they?" She asked. Philby shrugged.

"Easier for us." He said, unlocking and opening it. He peered inside.

"What is it?" Holly asked, curious. Philby frowned.

"It's… film." He answered, holding it up. "What would they do with film?"

"The Overtakers made film for the cinema to control the guests. Maybe this is the original?" She suggested. "If it is, it could turn them back to normal."

"I guess we could try it." Philby responded. "Willa's in the cinema with Finn. We'll go there in a minutes." Something banged against the door. "Or now."

~.~

"How do you put this in?" Willa asked, holding up the film Philby had given her.

"I can help with that." A gorilla told her, stretching out its hand. Willa still hadn't gotten used to the talking animals. Some could, some couldn't, based on whether or not the animators had given them a voice. Many were hidden in the background of movies like _Lion King_ and _Tarzan_, the cartoon equivalent of a movie extra. Oswald had said they were mostly neutral in the fight between the good and evil characters; they joined Alice's cause more out of boredom then anything.

Willa gave the film to the gorilla, who began to switch the tapes. Finn walked into the booth.

"We've got ten more." He told her, referring to the guests. "We need to fix them soon. The theatre is almost full." Willa smiled.

"Don't worry. We're ready."

~.~

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Maybeck called. Charlene rolled her eyes.

"I know we need to find some OTs," Charlene said. "But really, Maybeck?" She scanned the first room in the castle. Getting in had been a pain; it took them forever to figure out the riddle. They had just entered the castle, and so far, it appeared to be empty. Charlene opened a door on the right wall and looked inside. "Kitchen." She told him. "Maybe we should—"

"Hey!" A voice yelled from behind, cutting her off. She looked back to see some creature (an alien from _Lilo & Stitch_, by the looks of it) pointing at her and Maybeck. Behind it were three other similar-looking creatures. "You two aren't supposed to be here!"

Maybeck smirked. "Yeah, we know." He said. "What are you going to do about it?" The creature lunged to grab him, but Maybeck was already running the other way. Charlene turned a round and followed him.

Down the long, dark hallways, the six of them ran. The two Keepers found a way out of the castle and past the lake surrounding it. The four aliens chased them with surprising speed. Maybeck passed the entry to the town and into the tropical forest near the shore. He found what he was looking for: a trap door hidden in the sand. He opened it to find the rope latter that Philby had mentioned before. Charlene caught up to him a moment later, looking over her shoulder.

"You don't think we lost them, do you?" She asked nervously. As soon as she said it, the aliens burst from the trees.

"C'mon." Maybeck said, climbing down the latter. "Make sure they see you first." Charlene nodded, waiting for him to climb down and for the aliens to catch up. Once they did, she slowly went down the latter, looking up through the trap door the whole time.

"Foolish kids." The first alien scolded as it entered the room. "Thought you were being clever, running gesturing around the dungeon. "Our prison! You just make things to easy for us."

"I hate to break it to you," Charlene told it. "But _you're_ the one making things to easy." On cue, the two Keepers shoved the creatures into the different jail cells, closing the door and locking the key. Maybeck glanced at the latter.

"Ladies first." He muttered to Charlene. Charlene walked to the first alien's cell.

"For future references, never tell the good guys your plan." She advised it. "It'll only backfire on you; just watch any episode of _Kim Possible_." With that, she climbed up the latter and onto the beach, with Maybeck in her wake.

~.~

"Everything okay?" Philby asked Holly concerned, who was rubbing her foot.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She told him. "Just tired from running, that's all." It was a lie, but she didn't want to worry Philby. They had gotten all of the guests they could find to the cinema, and slowly but surely, Willa and Finn were turning them back to normal. The sun had begun to set, turning the sky purple and pink. Sun disappearing into the ocean, it was a nice view, but Holly had other things on her mind. The cruise ship had been docked all day, but the Keepers had been the only ones allowed to leave. She couldn't imagine what her parents were thinking; she had vanished (according to the others) over a month ago, and now her sister was gone as well. She wanted to go back there and tell them she was okay, but she knew she couldn't. Not until the got the island out of the Overtakers' control, and the earliest that would happen would be tomorrow morning. It was getting darker and darker by the minute, and they all need to rest.

"We've made progress." Philby commented as they headed towards the town.

"Did Charlene and Maybeck get rid of the other OTs?" She asked curiously. The Keepers had cell phones to communicate with each other, but Holly, who had lost hers when she was kidnapped, was out of the loop.

"Most of them." Philby answered. "And Oswald has talked the others into ditching Alice."

"It all comes back to her." Holly said. "Alice." Philby nodded.

"We need to stop her somehow." He said. "Capture her, I guess. But we can worry about that tomorrow." They walked through the forest in silence. They had almost reached the town when Holly tripped over one of the large rocks in the ground.

She winced in pain, clutching her right ankle. "I'm fine." She lied when she was the expression on Philby's face. He shook his head in response. After helping her up, he started walking back to the beach. "You're going the wrong way." She told him.

"No, I'm not." He replied. "I'm taking you back to the boat."

"No way!" She protested. "If we go to the ship, they'll never let us go back."

"Maybe." He said. "But we have to. You've been running around for a month, and I've seen you fall twice today. I think you might have sprained your ankle."

"But the others…" Holly started, looking in the direction of the town. "They'll be two short."

"Oswald and Elionwy can help them, if they need it." Philby said. "Look, Holly, I'm just trying to help you. If you stay here, I'll tell Charlene about your ankle, and you know how she'll act." Holly nodded, frowning slightly. Charlene was a bit protective over her; she would probably drag Holly to the boat herself.

"Fine." Holly said finally, giving up. "Let's go soon, before they fall asleep."

"The two of them entered the cruise ship, Holly limping. (Philby had offered to help her, but she refused immediately.) Philby called the other Keepers, telling them what happened. They told them they would be fine, that they could capture Alice and get rid of the other Overtakers with just the four of them.

Looking out onto the ocean, Philby hoped they were right.

* * *

**Author's Note: Yay! Four reviews! My birthday's on the 19th, and I probably won't have another chapter out by then. Want to review as a present?**


	18. The AntiClimax?

Chapter Eighteen: The Anti-Climax

* * *

Willa yawned, stretching out her arms. She sat up on the green metal park bench she had been sleeping on. It took her a moment to remember where she was: Castaway Cay, planning to overthrow the Overtakers with her fellow Keepers.

"Sleep well?" A voice asked from behind her. Finn.

"Yeah." She answered, getting up. "What time is it?" It was very bright outside, as the sun was still rising.

"Eight thirty." He responded. "Charlene and Maybeck are getting food."

A half an hour later, the four of them sat down in a circle, eating turkey subs. "Not exactly breakfast food," Maybeck had said. "But it'll do."

"Philby texted me this morning." Finn said when they had finished. "They're fine, but our parent aren't very happy with us. Mrs. Turner especially."

"My family does have a temper." Charlene agreed. "Don't worry, you guys should be fine. I, on the other hand, will be grounded for the rest of my life." She frowned. "There's something I don't get, though."

"What?" Willa asked.

"The poem in Holly's journal, the same one Wayne gave to us." Charlene said. "I thought Holly wrote it, but when I asked, she had no idea what I was talking about. And when I looked at it again, I realized it wasn't her handwriting."

"But you said it was in her diary." Maybeck argued. "Aren't those things supposed to be private? As in, no random people writing poems in it?"

"It was written the same day she disappeared." Charlene explained. "I always assumed it was her way of telling us where she was, so someone could go and rescue her."

"But she would've had no way of knowing where they were going to keep her." Willa commented, confused.

"Exactly. And I saw some townspeople from _Beauty and the Beast_ running around here. So I was thinking… what if someone has been trying to help us the entire time? Someone other then Oswald and Elionwy. Yesterday, everything we did, finding the film, capturing the OTs… it just seemed too _easy_. Normally, it takes us forever to figure this stuff out. We've been here for only two days." Charlene finished.

"So?" Maybeck asked. "Someone's trying to help us! That's a good thing!"

"I know." Charlene said. "It's just weird."

~.~

"OUCH!" Holly yelped.

"Sorry, dear." Mrs. Turner apologized. "Your hair is a mess!" She ran the comb through Holly's hair again. "I can't believe they won't let us on the island! Those kids could get hurt!" She glanced at Holly's foot. "We don't need any more injuries…"

"Its fine, mom." Holly said. "They've got it under control."

"I hope so…" She replied anxiously.

~.~

Alice descended the stairs. The castle was three stories high, and she had just reached the second floor. She had designed the castle herself, as well as the rest of the town. All of it, her creation, her hard work…

She knew her grip on the island was slipping. Unlike the original villains, she wasn't arrogant enough to believe she could actually win. Her supporters were gone, either getting captured or abandoning her. Her workers had been freed. Oswald, Elionwy… she had put too much trust in them. When the witch had escaped on Oswald's watch, she should have known… So many mistakes, so many things that could have been prevented…

But it was too late.

She could have surrendered. It would have been the best option for everyone. But she wasn't going to be mocked. She wasn't going to be remembered as a failure. Exiting the castle, she knew what she was going to do, and she wouldn't change her mind.

She was going to fight.

She could see them now, at least four of them. Where were the redhead and the witch? But no matter. It was too late to turn back now.

~.~

Someone was docking on the shore.

It was a small boat, painted green on the bottom. It looked like something you would use to go fishing in a small lake, not sailing out in the ocean. Philby wondered how it got there.

"Who's in there?" Holly asked him, pointing to a small figure walking towards the _Wonder_. The figure was a man with white hair, and by the looks of it, very old.

"Wayne!" Philby yelled.

"Who?"

~.~

'"So, you're Alice?" Charlene asked, surprised. The girl was the same age as her, or at least she looked like she was—in reality, Alice had to be in her fifties. She had dirty blond hair and blue eyes similar to Charlene's own. Charlene had expected someone more… vicious-looking. Then again, looks could be deceiving.

"Yes, I am." Alice replied coldly. "Aren't there more of you?" She asked, turning to Willa. "Where's your boyfriend?"

Willa ignored her. "You're all alone, Alice." She told her. "Why can't you guys give up?"

"I wonder the same thing about you." Alice commented. "I've waited for this moment, seeing you—"

"Waiting?" Maybeck cut her off. "More like hiding." He snorted. "You've been locked up in your castle the whole time."

"I have _not_ been hiding." Alice spat, her cheeks turning pink from either anger or embarrassment. "You do not want to get on my bad side. I can—"

"What?" Maybeck cut her off again. "Do what? You don't have any powers, or any real way to hurt us. You're just some random girl with an obsession with chasing rabbits." Alice's face turned dark red.

"You have no idea—"

THUD. Something hit Alice in the back of her head. She fell to the ground, unconscious. Finn stared at her.

"Well…" He said after a moment. "That was anti-climatic." He looked up to see what hit her. Standing gracefully, a tall, brunette woman in a simple dress stood in front of the Keepers. A large book was held under her arm, obviously what she had used to hit Alice. As soon as she saw her, Finn knew who she was.

"Belle?" Not Finn, but Charlene asked. Belle nodded.

"Hello, children. I have wanted to meet you for quite some time. I take it you found my note?" She asked.

"Y-you wrote that?" Charlene asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes." Belle answered. "I was unsure of writing it in my native language. I hoped one of you would be able to understand it. French is spoken by very few of the Disney characters. The only one to worry about is Judge Frollo, and I do not believe he was involved in this." She explained, motioning to the island.

Belle glanced at the unconscious teenager at her feet. "Help me get her to the boat. We must get her, as well as the other characters, back to the Packs. It is of the utmost importance that they do not escape."

"Why aren't any of the other good characters here?" Finn questioned.

"'Good' is a relative term." Belle said. "As you have seen, even the best people can turn rotten." She sighed. "To answer your question, the other didn't want to come. They didn't see Alice as a threat. But we must go soon. The elderly man—"

"Elderly man?" Maybeck asked. "Wayne's here?"

"The sooner we leave, the better."

~.~

To say Mrs. Turner was pleased to see her oldest daughter was an understatement. "I'm so glad you're okay!" She exclaimed, hugging Charlene.

"Relax, mom." Charlene told her, pulling away. "Nothing bad was going to happen."

"You don't know that." Mrs. Turner replied darkly. "These people—things—are dangerous. I don't want you involved in this."

"I don't really have a choice." Charlene said.

"I know." Mrs. Turner responded sadly. "I just hoped your sister would've stayed out of this…"

"Where _is_ Holly?" Charlene asked, curious.

"Bathroom." Mrs. Turner answered. "She's fine; her ankle is sprained, but it's not too bad." Charlene looked at the clock on the wall.

"I'm supposed to meet the others in twenty minutes." She explained. "Can I go?"

"I guess." Her mother said with a sigh. "You do realized grounded when we get home, right?"

"Yeah." Charlene answered. "But it's worth it."

~.~

The seven of them—Charlene, Finn, Holly, Philby, Maybeck, Willa and Wayne—sat around in a circle. The teens waited for Wayne to start speaking.

"As much as I'd like to celebrate regaining control of the Cay, I'm afraid I have some bad news." Wayne began. The Keepers (plus Holly) sat up straighter, listening closely.

"As you all know, the original Overtakers—the villains from the movies—have been lying low for awhile. Their leaders, Maleficent and Chernabog, were captured with your help. When I left for California, I believed that they were planning an attack there, taking advantage of how little protection we have for Disneyland. I was wrong." He paused. "It was a false alarm. Nothing happened in either of the parks. It was simply a trick to lure me out of Florida."

"We were lured out of Florida, too." Holly mumbled.

"Exactly. You five and I are the biggest threats With all of us gone, Maleficent and Chernabog's escape was inevitable."

"Inevitable?" Philby repeated. "You mean…"

"Yes." Wayne answered. "They're gone." Silence. And then…

"But they're not doing anything, right?" Holly asked. Wayne nodded.

"Right now, they're planning." Wayne said. "We have a few months on our hands to relax. It won't last forever, though." He stood up. "We will be back in Florida tomorrow. I suggest you spend time with your families."

"What about Amanda?" Finn asked. "And Jess? We need their help."

"Wanda is taking care of it." Wayne answered. Finn got up and left. Slowly, all the Keepers left until it was just Holly and Wayne. "Thank you for your help, Holly Noel." He told her. "I tried to avoid you from getting involved in this."

"You _knew_ this was going to happen?" She accused.

"This is a discussion for another day." Wayne dismissed. "However, once we're back in Orlando, I have a favor to ask you…"

~.~

Finn gazed into the empty horizon. His mother stood next to him, a letter in her hand. "What's it say?" He asked her. She read it aloud:

_To the Whitman Family—_

_We would like to apologize for any problems we have caused you on this trip. We claim full responsibility for any mishaps that have happened on the ship, the _Disney Wonder_, or our island, Castaway Cay. We will reimburse you for all costs of the trip, as well as offering you a free five-day vacation of our new boat, the _Disney Magic_._

_Our sincere regrets,_

_The _Disney Wonder_ Crew_

"So," Mrs. Whitman said, looking up at her son. "Five-day cruise? Are you taking up that offer? We could go during Spring Break."

"No way." Finn answered immediately. "I've had enough of cruise ships for a lifetime." His mother laughed.

"I had a feeling you'd say that."

* * *

**Author's Note: Thank you for all the reviews! Less then a month left of school (yay!). My goal of getting 30 reviews for this story is almost complete! I've got what? 28? 29? Oh, and...**

**ONE CHAPTER LEFT! I'm not sure if it's a chapter or an epilogue, though. I wrote a paragraph or so of it, but I might rewrite it. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter! Please review!**


	19. Endings

Chapter Nineteen: Endings

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Holly slowly made her way through the dark dungeon. After being thrown in one on the island, she'd had enough of the stone walls, harsh lighting, and damp smell. This dungeon was under the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and was a place very few knew of. Dungeons and basements were very rare in Florida, since the ground bellow was filled almost completely with water. Holly wasn't entirely sure how the place was built, but assumed that the building was higher above sea level then the ones around it.

Towards the end of the dungeon, large metal jail cells had been built. They had been created by the Overtakers for capturing Imagineers, a thought that scared Holly greatly. They had abandoned this plan after the Keepers discovered it. Most of the cells were empty, except for one.

"Hello, Alice." Alice looked up at Holly, glaring at her.

"What do you want?" She asked, aggravated.

"Wayne sent me here." Holly answered and glanced around the room. "It must get awfully boring in here." She commented. Alice had been held there for two weeks, ever since the kids had gotten back to Florida. After the left, more boats had been sent to pick up the guests, who had no memory of what had happened to them on the island. Disney had been having some difficulty covering up the story. They tried to ignore it by focusing more on their new promotion: a "blast to the past" of sorts, featuring all of the old characters that most were too young to know about. Only the Keepers and Holly knew the reason for it: a way of stopping the aging of Oswald and his friends. The promotion would end in February, and when it did, Oswald would return to Disneyland in California. According to him, there was only one of every Disney character, and they were all located in some Disney area across the globe. It confused Holly that there were villains in other parks around the world, but Florida was the only place having problems. She ignored it, however.

"You have no idea." Alice replied, snapping Holly out of her thoughts. "You're the first one in days to come here, none the less talk to me."

"Do characters eat?" Holly asked suddenly. Alice shook her head.

"We can, but we don't really need to…" She sighed. "Why did Wayne send you?"

"He's allowing you to go. Be free." Holly answered. Alice raised an eyebrow.

"What's the catch?" She asked.

"You can't help the Overtakers."

"How will you even know?" She asked doubtfully.

"Wayne knows something I don't, apparently." Holly answered, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"You don't trust him?"

"I don't trust _you_." Holly replied. "But I promised him I'd do this." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a key. She unlocked the door and opened it, allowing Alice to leave.

"Goodbye." Alice said before leaving the room. "Sorry…"

"You're apologizing?" Holly said surprised. Alice shrugged.

"I'm not all bad."

With that, Alice left the room.

Even though it was the last time Holly ever saw her, it wasn't the last time Holly dealt with the Overtakers. Maleficent and Chernabog were on the loose. The Overtakers were still very much at large.

It wasn't over yet.

In a matter of months, everything would change.

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**Author's Note: Yes! Finished! Well, folks, that was the last chapter. Very short, but there wasn't much to say. I hope you liked the ending, it took me awhile to figure out exactly how I wanted it to be. Thank you for the reviews, I now have a grand total of 31! Thank you!**


	20. Sequel or No Sequel?

_**Hi there!**_

_**So, as you might have noticed, "Trouble at Sea" has kind of an odd ending. It's not really complete. I wrote it that way because I felt like the story wasn't finished. It didn't make sense that all of their problems would just go away after that. But I didn't really plan on continuing the plot line.**_

_**However, now that it's been a few months, and I've had a break from writing KK stuff and worked on my HP fics, I've begun thinking about a plot for a sequel to this. However, it will probably be just as long as TAS, which would mean I'd spend a lot of time and effort on it.**_

_**I'm perfectly fine with this, really. However, I at least want to know if anyone would read a sequel. I don't want to spend that time if no one's going to read it.**_

_**So, I've put up a poll on my profile. If you've read my story, please, just take a minute and answer it. I'd really like to know what you think.**_

_**Thanks!**_

_**~Alyssa**_


	21. Important Author's Note!

**Important Author's Note!**

**Okay, I know I'm a bit late posting this, but the sequel to this story, _The Complex, _is now up!**

**Please, check it out, it would mean the world to me if you do.**

**I hope you guys had a happy thanksgiving!**


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